A Brother Lost
by 1Sherlockian
Summary: Sequel to The Scarlet Blades as well as AU to the episode Follow The Leader. What if Leo's brother were unable to save him from Karai and he was shipped off somewhere? When he finds a band of mutants and humans called the Outcasts, will he be able to find a home among them?
1. Prologue

Leo struggled against his bonds that kept him in the chair. He could practically feel Karai's eyes boring into him from the desk where she sat behind him. He saw shadows pass over him onto the floor and looked up into the faces of his brothers. He tried to call out to them, yelling at them not to come down, to get away. His vain attempts at speech were blocked by the tape on his mouth. His brothers dropped down onto the three footbots guarding him. As soon as Donnie took the tape of his mouth, Leo managed to tell them it was a trap. The wall opened up behind them as Raph cut Leo free and then made his threat to Karai who smiled and told them how they were simply bait.

"She wants Splinter." Leo told his brother.

"Good luck with that." Raph said.

"Restrain them." Karai ordered the footbots. As they advanced, Leo's brothers drew their weapons. Leo was unarmed and had to simply use his fists. A wave of footbots came at them from all around. Leo glanced towards all possible ways out only to find them all blocked. He groaned inwardly as his brothers attacked, not bothering to wait for an order. A footbot advanced on him and he ducked low, sweeping out a leg to bring it crashing to the ground. He grabbed it by its shoulders and tossed it into a bunch of others. He turned, meeting a footbots fist with his jaw, knocking him back a pace. He struck out with a fist at its face, but it grabbed his wrist just inches from its face. It squeezed his wrist in an iron grip, making the bones in his wrist grind together. Pain flared as he struggled to remove his arm, striking out with his other. The footbot grabbed this as well. Before Leo could try to get his arms free, the bot flicked its wrist that held Leo's right arm, doing it with such force that it snapped his forearm enough that the bone slightly popped out of the skin. Leo cried out in pain, clutching his wounded arm as the footbot released him and drove its knee up into his stomach, driving the wind out of him and forcing him back as he clutched his useless right arm to himself.

"Leo!" Raph yelled as he raced over, slamming a sai into the back of the footbot's head. When he turned and saw Leo's broken arm he froze, seeing the bone popping out slightly on the inside of his arm. He looked like he might throw up. Leo didn't blame him. He wanted to hurl too, more from pain than anything else. While Leo and Raph were distracted by Leo's arm, a few bots managed to sneak up on them.

"Raph, duck!" Leo said as one bot struck out with its fist. Raph ducked and Leo slammed his good hand into its face, nodding in satisfaction. While Leo was distracted, one bot managed to sneak up on him, slamming him to the ground. More piled onto him, keeping him pinned. Somewhere under all the weight, he felt his left leg bending unnaturally before giving way. His massive scream of pain was blocked by the weight piled on him. Mercifully, he blacked out from pain.

"Leo!" Raph cried out as his brother was overtaken. He cringed as he heard the sickening crack of his brother's leg and just barely heard his muffled scream of pain. Raph began hurriedly throwing the bots off his brother. Mikey and Donnie made their way over to help him. The other bots had backed off for the moment, encircling them loosely so they couldn't escape, but they still had a good amount of room. Finally, they threw off the last bot. Leo lay crumpled on the floor, unconscious, a trickle of blood coming from his arm where the bone had popped out. His left leg was bent at an odd angle, but the bone hadn't broken through the skin. Raph whirled around, ready to dish out some payment for his fallen brother. Suddenly, he felt something prick his neck with a bit of force. His hand flew to his neck and he carefully pulled some sort of dart out of his neck. He stumbled slightly and collapsed as the tranquilizer took effect.

"Raph!" Donnie said reaching out for his brother as a dart entered his neck. He collapsed too. Mikey glanced around fearfully and sighted Karai holding a tranquilizer gun as she fired at Mikey who cowered with his back to her, making the dart bounce harmlessly off his shell. As soon as Mikey realized he hadn't been hit, he bolted for the nearest exit, determined to get Splinter and come back for the others. He clamored up to the ceiling beams, bursting through the skylight and racing away, back to the lair.

Karai cursed as he escaped then shrugged to herself. It wasn't a big deal that he got away, but it would speed things up. They had to work faster. She turned to the bot next to her and pointed to Leo.

"Bind that arm up so he doesn't bleed out. Fix it if you can. Take off his mask as well as his knee and elbow pads. I want to make sure Splinter has something to remember this by. Ship him off when you're done and make sure he doesn't wake up until he gets there." She said. The bot nodded and went to do as ordered. Karai turned to the other bots and gestured to Raph and Donnie.

"Tie them up and make sure you do it right. They can't escape. Make a space between them for Leo's things." She said, turning and going back to the desk where she'd been sitting earlier and watched the bots quickly do her bidding. She tapped her fingers on the desktop, watching as her bots tied the two turtles up and placed Leo's mask, katanas and pads between the two unconscious turtles while another bot hefted Leo onto its shoulder and walked outside.

Just outside, an unmarked, dark red van with painted over windows waited. It was new looking, the smell of fresh paint still evident even after a day of drying. The rear doors were open, revealing an empty back. The front was blocked by a sheet of metal. The side door was welded shut on the inside, keeping it from opening. The footbot tossed Leo onto the floor of the van and stood guard as a Purple Dragon walked out of the Dojo, having just been told by Karai where he was to take Leo. The dragon took a syringe from his pocket and a small bottle, filling the syringe to the right point before stuffing the bottle back in his pocket. He flicked the syringe to take care of any air bubbles, squirting a little out to get rid of them, then buried the needle in the crook of Leo's good arm.

The drug pulled Leo deeper into unconsciousness.

He put the syringe back in his pocket and shut the doors, locking them. A Texas license plate lay on the pavement. He picked it up and put it securely in its place on the right side door before heading to the driver side door of the cab and getting in, driving away.


	2. Chapter 1

His first thought was that his head pounding was what had woken him up. Then he realized it was just music. It didn't sound like any music he'd ever listened to before. His second thought was that Mikey was experimenting with new music.

"Why does he have to play that music so loud?" Leo groaned to himself, his eyes still screwed shut.

"Oh, sorry, that's kinda my fault. Didn't mean to disturb you, Rookie. Well…O.K., I kinda did." A young voice said, very close to Leo. His eyes flew open. A young, bracken colored, mutant wolf with storm grey eyes was standing over him. He didn't look too much younger than Leo, at least ten years old. Leo sat up, wincing as pain fired down his broken arm. He was only slightly surprised to find it bound up in a cast. A quick look at his leg revealed it to be in the same state. He looked to the wolf.

"Who are you?" Leo asked. The younger mutant grinned.

"Name's Xavier. Currently apprentice to Jarak, Head of Technicians. I'm also the one in charge of music, so again, sorry about it being so loud." He answered. Leo shook his head.

"No, it's fine. Just woke me up." Leo replied.

"Xavier! Leave the turtle alone and come help with the new supplies!" A strong, female voice called out to them.

"Coming Kirs!" Xavier called back over his shoulder. He turned to Leo and smiled.

"That's my older sister, Kirsa. I'll see ya later, Rookie." He said, turning and racing away to his sister, a tall, jet black mutant wolf with storm grey eyes like her little brother and what look like a silver braided band around the middle of her tail. Now that Xavier was a distance away, Leo could see he had a similar silver band around his own tail. He also realized that both wolves wore dark, slightly faded and holed jeans, Kirsa also wearing a back tank top while Xavier was shirtless. As Xavier reached her, Kirsa picked up a box of supplies and set it in her brother's outstretched arms before grabbing a larger box and leading him off through a doorway.

Now that he was fully awake, Leo began to watch as more mutants, and humans, walked up to the stacks of crates and boxes, and headed off in all sorts of directions. Among the mutants, he sighted a female, mutant, black fox with a dark red tail tip and patches of dark red fur going out like comet tails from the corner of each eye. He could see she had three, dark red stripes going down her back, starting from the top of her head between her ears, which had dark red tip and three gold earrings through the bottom, upper side of each ear. Her left ear had a small, ragged triangle torn out of the top corner. She had chestnut brown eyes and a pinkish scar across her muzzle, suggesting the scar was fresh. She wore a dark pair of worn jeans with a hole for her glossy, black tail, with a gold looking, braided band near the base of her tail and she wore fingerless, leather gloves, revealing a silver-braided ring on her right little finger. She also wore a dark purple, almost black, tank top which revealed a brand on her left shoulder in the shape of a police badge, with the word_ Outcasts_ in the middle, written in neat, calligraphy script. She was armed with two, old fashioned looking revolvers, each in their holsters, one on each hip, the belt slightly raised up on the right hip in a none too comfortable looking way. Thrust through the gun belt were two, heavyweight looking, fighting knives with braided leather hilts, looking worn after obvious years of use. The blades were about five or six inches long and looked deadly sharp. Beside her stood a young man, around the same age as her, most likely older. He had tousled, jet black hair with dark red bang tips, obviously dyed, similar looking to the fox's fur. His eyes were the same, chestnut brown. There were almost exactly the same height, the fox barely and inch shorter. The guy wore the same, dark, worn pair of jeans everyone else seemed to wear, as well as a grey t-shirt with torn of sleeves, revealing the exact same brand on his upper left arm as the fox had on hers. The guy's was clearer since he didn't have dark fur blurring it. He had darkish tan skin and had a scar going down his left arm, white now and obviously very old. The fox and the guy each had a badge, like their brand, hanging around their necks by a silver chain and resting on their chest. The guy's was gold and the fox's was silver. The fox was helping a couple of mutants, two massive jaguars, to lift a long, obviously heavy, crate. The human was helping on the fox's side.

"Come on you two; get a good grip so we can get this into the Smithy. Dig your claws in if you have to." The fox called out. The jaguars did just that, grunting with the effort as they lifted the box and carried it towards an open doorway with the glow of flames on the walls and the sound of hammer on steel. After a few minutes, all the boxes and crates had been carried off to wherever they belonged. Now that there was less activity, Leo began to examine himself. Other than his broken limbs, he was virtually unscathed save a bruise on his upper right arm. He didn't notices the small cluster of needle marks within the bruise. He'd already realized that his mask was gone, as were his knee and elbow pads. He was also unarmed.

Leo carefully stood up, leaning against the earthy wall. Earthy? Were they below ground? He looked around, noticing there were no windows, the only light coming from the glowing bars that hung from the ceiling at least twenty or more feet above. Between him and the ceiling were two balconies encompassing the whole, vast chamber, each with stairs leading between them. The lower balcony was just a few feet above him with the second about ten feet above that. Set in the walls along these balconies were the occasional doorway or door. The balconies and stairs were made of steel.

As he was taking this all in, a bell sounded throughout the place. All those who were in the main area, mutants and humans, headed through another doorway on the bottom floor. However, a lot of them came down from the first balcony. Leo guessed that was where the rooms were. Xavier came down with the others and headed towards him.

"You ready?" he asked.

"For what?" Leo said. Xavier snorted slightly.

"Dinner, duh! It's almost eight." He said, taking Leo's hand of his good arm and leading him towards the doorway that everyone else was going through.

"Xavier, where exactly are we?" Leo asked as they walked through a stone covered hallway, trying to keep to the side and out of everyone's way since they had to go slow for Leo's leg.

"The Outcast's base. I'd suggest saving your questions until after dinner. Shade and Tristen will fill you in during the chamber meeting." He said. Leo nodded. He could wait. He was also starving. Xavier laughed as Leo's stomach growled.

"Hungry much?" he joked. Leo laughed.

"Can't really remember the last time I ate. I'm starved." He replied. Xavier grinned.

"Well, get ready to stuff yourself. We go the best spread this side of the Mississippi!" Xavier answered.

"What kind of food?" Leo asked.

"See for yourself." Xavier replied as they headed through a pair of double doors to enter a massive room filled with the smell of food, making Leo's stomach growl louder. Hundreds of humans and mutants sat at long tables, eating and talking. Along one wall was a long table, full of what seemed to be the high ranking humans and mutants judging by the respective glances and the fact that, whenever someone passed, they would either salute or stop to have a small chat. There were four empty seats, two between Xavier's older sister and the fox he's seen earlier and another beside the guy he'd seen with her. The last one was in the direct middle between the fox and the guy. Xavier led Leo to this table, taking the seat beside his sister, sticking Leo next to the fox who was in deep conversation with the human. The human glanced up as they sat and gave a welcoming, if slightly hardened, smile.

"Nice to see you about. Wonderin' when you was gonna wake up. I'm Tristen. This here's my little sister, Shade." He said gesturing to the fox who turned and smiled, warmly and less hardened than her brother's.

"So, what's your name, Rookie?" Shade asked.

"Leonardo, but I go by Leo." He replied. Shade smiled again.

"Well then Leo, I hope you're hungry 'cause here comes the grub." She said. Leo turned as a tall, slim human with bright, almost white, blond hair and faint pink highlights, walked up bearing trays of food.

"Evenin' Chiefs." She said, smiling warmly at Tristen and Shade. She set down the food, dishing it out. She smiled at Leo as she set down his food which consisted of a steak, mashed potatoes, beans and a bowl of something that smelled spicy with a visible hint of beans and meat in it. Beside that, she set down a bowl of something covered in butter.

"And a good evenin' to the Rookie." She said before walking away with her empty trays, back to the clamor of the kitchens.

Leo picked up the bowl of meat and beans and his spoon to take a bite of what the bowl held. It was amazing! He quickly took another bite, licking his lips appreciatively. Shade laughed.

"So, you like chili? Emma makes the best." She said, taking a large bite of her own. Leo nodded.

"Never had chili before, but it's amazing. I'll take you word for it on this being the best." He said, swallowing his previous bite.

"You gonna eat your grits?" Xavier asked. Leo shrugged.

"Think I'll try some first." Leo said, taking a small bite. He shrugged as he swallowed.

"Pretty good. All yours Xavier." He said, handing it over. Xavier took the bowl and shoveled a fairly large bite into his mouth. Kirsa chuckled and gently forced her brother to take smaller bites. Leo turned back to his food, quickly finishing the chili before beginning on the steak. It was well cooked, with spices spread evenly throughout the whole piece. He finished it quickly. Shade leaned over and mixed his potatoes into the baked beans. He looked at her questioningly.

"Trust me; they'll taste a whole lot better that way. Emma gave the beans over to Kyler again and while he is a good cook, beans ain't his strong suite and that's a fact. Also, we're on a bit of a clock today, so it'll be quicker." She said. Leo shrugged and began to quickly eat them. Shade and Tristen were already done. Some of the other members had already finished their meals and left, back to whatever they did normally after dinner.

"Alright, everyone meet in the chamber room in ten minutes." Tristen said, standing. Shade stood too.

"See you in a few, Leo." She said, smiling at him before following after her brother who was already walking out of the mess hall.

"You ready?" Kirsa asked him. Leo nodded and the older wolf stood, Xavier jumped up beside her and leading the way out of the mess. Kirs and Leo followed after him. Leo's thoughts were a little scrambled. He hoped this meeting would help to clear his head and maybe put his worries at ease.


	3. Chapter 2

Kirsa and Leo followed Xavier out into the main cavern where Leo had woken up just a few hours prior. Xavier bounded up the steps to the first balcony and waited for his sister and Leo to catch up before walking on Leo's other side as they headed towards the next set of stairs, rounding the corner of the balcony and heading to the end of the balcony which stopped directly at the front wall on the left side of the entrance to the hideout and held the stairs to the next balcony. Once up the last stairs, they set off towards some big double doors set into the back wall of the main cavern. Kirsa pulled open one of the doors and ushered Leo in first, closing the door behind them. They were in a short hallway that led to another set of double doors, these made of polished wood rather than the black metal of the first doors. Kirsa pulled these doors open as well, allowing Leo to limp in first before she shut the doors behind her. Leo stood in the middle of a medium sized, circular room with a large, wooden table encircling along the walls with twenty-one seats, all but five occupied by both humans and mutants alike. Kirsa headed to one of the three empty seats which was beside Shade who sat in the very middle, in front of Leo, with a larger, empty seat between her and her brother. Xavier sat at the table on the left side of Leo, opposite of his sister, taking the empty seat to the left of a human with a head of thick, brown hair. Leo guessed this to be Jarak, Xavier's mentor. On Xavier's other side was a vacant seat and in the next seat over was Tristen. This left three seats empty. Leo wondered why. Shade stood to address them at a nod from her brother.

"This Chamber meeting is officially called to order by me, as Sergeant of the Outcasts, in absence of Mother Silvia, who will join us later. Mac is currently busy with personal matters and Alix is resting." She said. All talking had ceased as she stood and all eyes turned to the main seats. Tristen now stood, nodding respectively to the other Chamber members.

"Leonardo, can you remember anything before waking up in the entrance chamber?" Tristen asked. Leo thought hard.

"I dunno. It's all a little blurry….I remember something of a fight, but only bits and pieces of it." He replied. Tristen nodded.

"Don't worry, it's not too important. Why don't you start out with where you're from and anything else you can tell us about your life prior to coming here?" Tristen said. Leo nodded.

"I'm from New York City. I have three brothers; Donnie, Raph, and Mikey. We were mutated as baby turtles via mutagen from the Kraang. With us, a human was mutated as well, into a rat. His name is Hamato Yoshi, or was anyways. We just call him Splinter. He raised us and trained us in Ninjitsu. Me and my brothers have been fighting the Kraang for a little over a year now. That's pretty much all I can tell you without getting lengthy." He said.

"Well, it seems as if you've had a pretty eventful life for one so young," A voice said from behind, making him turn, "So tell me, Leo, how old are you?"

"Sixteen." Leo replied to the woman standing at the doors which were now closed. She had long, silky white hair, pulled up in a bun, her bangs not included. She wore the dark faded jeans of the Outcasts and a dark maroon top with no sleeves. Over this, she wore a light colored, thin, see-through shawl. Leo could make out the brand of the Outcasts' on her left shoulder. He'd noticed by now, that only Shade and Tristen had them, which meant that they were a symbol of leadership. This meant that this old woman was probably at the very top of the Outcasts' ranks. She held a simple wooden cane, more like a walking stick. Looking at her milky grey eyes that seemed to look everywhere and nowhere, Leo didn't think it was for her old age. He realized all of the Chamber members had stood and bowed to the new comer. He did the same, acting on his observation of her brand and the fact that everyone else was doing it. The old woman smiled.

"Oh, come now, there's no need for that. A simple 'howdy' would've been fine." She said, stepping deeper into the room, her cane sweeping the floor for anything that would trip her. Leo turned back to face Shade and Tristen who were standing once again, everyone else having returned to their seats. The old woman, who Leo decided was basically their Splinter, went to the empty seat between Tristen and Shade and sat down.

"Leo, meet Mother Silvia." Shade said, gesturing to the old woman.

"Is she like your Sensei?" Leo asked. Shade shrugged.

"That's one way to put it. She began the Outcasts about fifty years ago with my father, Sam. We tend to go to her for the extreme situations and such. She's a seer." She explained.

"Were you always blind?" Leo asked. Mother Silvia nodded.

"However, we're not here to talk about me. Now, what can you tell me about what happened before you awoke here? I missed the beginning after all." She said. Leo nodded.

"All I remember is bits and pieces. I remember me and my brothers fighting something. I can remember breaking my arm, but don't know how. I don't remember breaking my leg either. I also don't recall losing my pads, mask and katanas. If you have them, I'd like them back." He said. Shade shook her head.

"I'm sorry Leo, but we don't have them. How you are is exactly as we found you yesterday morning outside of the base. Well, except for the casts. Lex did those after we brought you in." she said, gesturing to a tall, young woman with long, blonde hair and a mix of brown hair beneath, sitting two seats away from Jarak with a human and a mutant white dog between them, the human beside Jarak. On her other side, sat a mutant lynx decked out in leather, metal studded armor.

"You would've been in the infirmary, but Lex said putting you out in the open would be best so you'd get fresh air since the vents in the infirmary are currently being fixed. They caved in last week." Shade continued.

"So, we're underground?" Leo asked. Shade nodded.

"Where exactly?" he asked.

"Houston, Texas."


	4. Chapter 3

"Texas!?" Leo said, his voice a little higher than he wanted.

"Yeah, I reckon you are pretty far from home, then." Mother Silvia said.

"I need to get home!" he said.

"Not until you're healed you're not." Lex said fiercely, standing as she did so.

"Leo, we are more than happy to help you home, but there're two problems with that at the moment. The first is that you are injured and I refuse to let anyone who is hurt leave this place until such time as they are fully healed. The second is that it's unsafe even for us to go out. We're under siege and it's hard enough getting supplies in, let alone getting anyone, or anything, out. I'm sorry, but we simply can't risk it. Until you're fully healed and it's safe for us to go above ground, you're stuck here." Shade said solemnly.

"Under siege? By who?" he asked. Shade sighed, rubbing her temples.

"It's a long, long story, but I'll make it quick. An old comrade from the beginning of the Outcasts turned against the leaders about a year ago. The General at the time was my father. My brother was his Sergeant. The Traitor, as we now call him, murdered my father and tried to kill Tristen in an attempt to overthrow the whole system of the Outcasts. He failed to kill my brother and was exiled from the Outcasts for his crimes. Tristen took charge as General, as is custom, and I was appointed Sergeant. Since being exiled, the Traitor has gathered forces from elsewhere and has put us under siege. We can scarcely step outside our base without being shot at. Just last week, Kyler's older sister, Alix, was shot in the leg while returning from collecting supplies. She's recuperating in her room still, but should be all good in a couple of days. You can see her empty seat between Xavier and my brother. I tell you all this so you'll understand how dangerous it is for us to go out." She said. Leo thought for a few moments then turned to face Lex.

"How long until I'm fully healed?" he asked.

"A couple of weeks at most." She answered. Leo nodded, turning back to Shade.

"As soon as I'm fully healed, would it be possible for me to help fight them off?" he asked. Shade nodded.

"If you're willing." She answered.

"I'm willing." He said.

"Then it's settled," Tristen said, "When Lex decides it's alright, you may help us. In the meantime, it wouldn't be a bad idea for you to train, get your skills back up and maybe learn a new weapon."

"Maybe, but for the moment I think I'll stick with what I know. You wouldn't happen to have a set of katana layin' around, would you?" Leo asked. The armored lynx sitting beside Lex stood.

"I'm the Weaponsmaster here. I'll check my wares for any. If we don't have any to your liking or if we have none at all, Mac can make some." He said.

"Zayne, would you mind going to start looking? That way, if you have none, Mac can get started a little quicker." Tristen requested. Zayne nodded, bowing slightly before leaving the Chamber Room.

"Now that everything is settled, this meeting is dismissed. Leo, if you follow me, I'll take you to your room." Shade said as everyone rose and began to leave the room, Tristen and Mother Silvia leaving last. Shade walked around the circle to stand beside Leo, gesturing for him to follow her. They left the Chamber Room and its lone hallway, entering onto the upper balcony. Shade led him down the first flight of stairs, onto the lower balcony then around it to the other side of the main cavern. This side had six doorways set into the earthy wall, about two feet between each doorway and the wall beside them. Shade led him to the fourth doorway and down its concrete hallway that sloped downward for a few feet before leveling out. Doors were set on each side of the hall, some open, letting music and other sounds carry out into the hallway. A group of mutants and humans sat in the middle of the hall, in a circle, playing a game of cars. One of them, a teenage girl with mid-length blonde hair, lay on her stomach with a pillow beneath her chest. Her right leg was bandaged around the thigh.

"Alix, what happened to resting?" Shade asked as they approached. There was a hint of a laugh in her voice. The older girl looked up, grinning.

"I am resting, just not in my room. Who's your friend?" she asked, nodding towards Leo.

"This is Leonardo. Leo, meet my best friend, and massive pain in the ass, Alix Kerozen." Shade said, gesturing to her. Alix carefully stood up, leaning slightly more on her uninjured leg. She stuck out her hand and Leo took it. She had a nice, firm grip for someone so agile looking.

"Nice to meet you Leo. In case my butt of a friend hasn't told you, I'm a thief for the Outcasts. So's my little bro, but he's also a cook." Alix said. Shade rolled her eyes at the playful jab her friend had made at her. Leo smiled. He instantly liked Alix.

"No, she didn't mention that." He replied.

"Alright, go back to your cards Lixie. I need to show Leo his room." Shade said. Alix smiled, dropping Leo's hand and carefully laying back down on the floor, re-entering the card game. Shade led Leo around the group and further down the hall, all the way to the end. She opened a door on the left side of the hall and gestured him in, shutting the door behind them.

The room wasn't fancy or anything. It had four walls made of concrete and was relatively small. The left side wall had a set of shelves carved into it, but there were no books on it or anything else for that matter. The floor was carpet, but nothing thick or expensive looking. There was a bed in the back left corner along the left side wall, made and clean looking. There was a nightstand beside it with a lamp atop it, plugged into the wall. A desk was against the right wall with a stack of blank papers sitting on it. There was a bathroom closed off in the back right corner with just enough room for a shower, toilet, and sink with enough space for a person to move around in.

As he walked out of the bathroom, closing the door behind him, he saw Shade holding a book. He walked up to her and she handed it to him.

"I thought maybe you'd like some light reading, so I picked out one of my books. If you want more, just find me and I can give you more." She said. The book was old looking and seemed to have been opened often. The title was faded, but legible.

"_Call of the wild_?" he asked. She nodded.

"Sam gave it to me; used to read it to me as a kid. I thought you might like it." She replied. He smiled.

"Looks good." He said.

"It is." She answered. An awkward silence followed. She cleared her throat.

"Well, you're probably tired. Xavier will probably be the one to wake you in the morning. Tomorrow, you'll be able to go down to Zayne's armory and get your new katanas. There should be a radio in here by then." She said, walking to the door and opening it, letting the sound of the hall flood in.

"Thanks Shade." Leo said, feeling he had to say something. She turned and smiled at him.

"No problem, 'night Leo." She said, closing the door and cutting off the sounds of the hallway. Leo turned on the nightstand lamp and turned off the bedroom light then laid down in the bed. He wasn't tired, despite everything that had happened within the last few hours. He sat up and opened Shade's book, beginning to read.


	5. Chapter 4

Leo awoke to someone shaking his shoulder. He pushed away the incessant hand, earning him a slightly playful growl and someone nimbly jumping onto him. His eyes flew open as the air was forced out of him in a massive _whoosh_. He was greeted by a bracken furred wolf staring him in the face. Leo blinked uncertainly as his mind woke up; reminding him that he wasn't at home anymore. That he was hundreds of miles away. He was hit by a wave of homesickness. He shook it off and looked back up at the wolf that'd been with him most of his time yesterday.

"Xavier? What the heck was that for?" Leo asked, carefully shoving the younger mutant off. Shade's book was open on his chest. He didn't even remember falling asleep. He was actually kind of surprised. It was a really good book. He'd have to let Shade know. He was almost done with it anyways and he's need to get a new one eventually, so he could tell her then. He picked up the book, marking his place and setting it on the nightstand as Xavier answered him.

"It's breakfast. Sheesh, I thought you'd sleep forever! Come on, I'm starved and I hear they made biscuits and gravy today." Xavier licked his lips with anticipation. Leo laughed and began to sit up. Xavier hopped off of him and went to wait out in the hallway while Leo went into the bathroom and washed up a little. He opened the door and stepped out into the hall, realizing the hallway was empty except for him and Xavier. He could still hear music and now he noticed the speakers set into the concrete ceiling above.

"Is there always music playing?" he asked, shutting the door behind him. Xavier thought for a second as they headed down the hall.

"Sort of. I mean, it usually only runs when I'm in there, but sometimes I let the radio play when I'm not there." Xavier answered.

"You can actually get service down here?" Leo asked. Xavier nodded.

"In a way. Jarak designed it a couple years back. You ever hear this song?" he asked. Leo shook his head.

"Me and my brothers mostly listened to techno type music back home, nothing really with lyrics." Leo answered, feeling another pang of homesickness.

"This is my sister's favorite song. Well, one of them anyway. It's called _All of Me_." Xavier explained. Leo nodded.

"So, if you're in charge of music, what does Jarak do?" he asked.

"All of the tech we use. Security cams, alarm systems, electricity you name it. He runs it all. He's got me a workroom set up with some of the security cams and alarm systems as part of my training, but he's still got a whole room full of the stuff for himself and his girlfriend, Zach." Xavier answered.

"So, do you like all this tech stuff?" Leo asked. Xavier nodded enthusiastically.

"Oh yeah, it's amazing how all the tech works and ties into each other. I can't wait 'til I'm in charge of it all with Jarak. I just hope I don't mess up." He said. Leo laughed.

"Don't worry, you'll do perfectly fine. You remind me of my brother, Donnie. He loves all things tech too." He said, another sad pang hitting him at the mention of someone he wouldn't see for a very long time, maybe even ever. He shook that last thought aside. Negative thinking wouldn't get him anywhere.

"Cool." Xavier replied as they reached the doors entering into the mess. As soon as they were opened, the two mutants were hit with a wall of sound from talking and pots and pans from the kitchen. The most amazing smell wafted to them, making their mouths water. They headed for the main table and took their seats. Mother Silvia now occupied the large chair between Tristen and Shade. As soon as they were seated, a mutant otter, wearing the usual Outcast attire as well as a kitchen apron stained with flour and other kitchen supplies, came up with a tray full of food for the two newcomers. Breakfast consisted of scrambled eggs, breakfast sausages, pancakes, toast, biscuits and gravy (as promised by Xavier), oatmeal, and a cup of coffee. Leo took the coffee after the first few sips.

"Did you make anything, Kyler?" Alix asked. Leo hadn't even noticed her at the table today. He figured she would've stayed in her room. He vaguely recalled Shade mentioning the two were siblings and he could see the playful looks Alix was giving her younger brother.

"Yeah sis, I did the pancakes actually. Don't worry, I put something special in yours." He said, leaning over the table to her, matching her gaze.

"Am I gonna like it?" she asked. Kyler shrugged.

"Maybe. Take a bite and find out." He replied. Alix raised an eyebrow at him before cutting a piece and slipping it into her mouth. She chewed for a few seconds before her eyes widened in disgust and she spat it out.

"What the hell was in that?" she asked, rinsing the taste out with her coffee. Kyler tapped a finger against his chin thoughtfully, looking up at the ceiling. Leo could see the laughter in Kyler's eyes that he was trying his best to hold back

"Well, it might've been either the onions I cooked in. Or maybe it was the left over beans from last night. Or maybe the garlic salt. Sorry, I forget." He replied. The whole table started laughing and as soon as Alix got the taste out of her mouth, she joined in and Kyler finally let loose his laugh that he'd been holding back for so long.

"Nice one kiddo. I think I taught you pretty well with the hiding part. Now go burn these things somewhere and get me a normal pancake, please." She laughed. Kyler nodded, still grinning, and picked them up and headed back towards the kitchens.

"Don't worry, Lixie's were the only ones I messed with." He called over his shoulder.

"Raised him well, Alix." Mother Silvia said. Alix nodded ascent.

"I did my best to show him everything. He learns quickly enough." She replied.

"Now, if only he could learn to cook beans." Shade said. They all went into another round of laughter as Kyler returned with his sister's replacement pancakes.

"I promise, these are perfectly normal." He said, setting them in front of her. Alix tousled his head fur fondly as he leaned over. He smiled at her before heading back to the kitchens, nodding respectfully to Mother Silvia, Tristen, and Shade who all dipped their heads in return. Leo began eating, realizing how hungry he was. A thought popped into his head and he paused eating to turn to Shade.

"Shade, how come your brother and Alix are humans?" he asked. She looked at him, confused for a second before understanding his question.

"I was born human. So was Kyler. We each had an accident with mutagen. Our older siblings were spared. When Kyler was exposed, Alix was too far away to be affected or to even do anything. Same with my brother." She said. Leo nodded. He wanted to ask more about it, but it felt like invading on her privacy.

"Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. Zayne managed to find at least one katana in his wares. It was too old and rusted to be of much use as a weapon, so Mac's melting it down to make a new one. She's been at it most of the night, but it might be done by now, so you can go look at it after breakfast to make sure it's to your liking. Mac's pretty good at judging weapons to warriors, so I'm pretty sure it'll be perfect for you." Shade said. Leo nodded.

"Alright, I'll go see here. Where exactly is her workshop?" he asked. Shade chuckled.

"You probably saw it yesterday and just don't remember. I'll take you there." Shade answered. Leo nodded 'thanks' and went back to eating.


	6. Chapter 5

As soon as breakfast was over, Shade led Leo out of the mess hall and back to the main cavern. A new song was now playing on the speakers throughout the base. The voice was female and the song seemed a little sad. He turned to Xavier, who'd tagged along with them, to ask about the song. He didn't even have a chance to voice the question before Xavier answered it.

"_Skyscraper_. You know, if you get some free time, you can stop by the music room and I'll show you some music." Xavier said. Leo nodded.

"Sounds good." He replied, turning to watch where they were going again. Shade led them to a doorway close to the wall that held the entrance doors. Fire glowed off the walls and the sound of hammer upon steel rang out. Leo remembered seeing this when he'd woken up out in the main cavern. As soon as they stepped through the doorway, a massive wave of heat blasted them, causing Shade to fan herself slightly because of her fur. Xavier backed out of the room to wait outside since his fur was much thicker than Shade's. Luckily, because he was cold blooded, Leo felt fine.  
>"Mac, you got that sword made for Leo?" Shade called out.<p>

"Yeah, just give me a second." A voice said from behind a metal door on the other side of the room. The door slid open and they were blasted with a fresh wave of heat, more intense than the first. Even Leo began to sweat. He couldn't imagine how hot it was for Shade with her fur. He also couldn't imagine anyone willingly being in this enclosed, heated area. The door slid shut, cutting off the air and Shade pressed a button on the stone wall and a slightly cooler breeze began to blow through.

Leo eyed Mac

She was a human, tall and strongly built, with mid-length brown hair, up in a braid, probably to keep it out of the fire as well as to keep her neck a little cooler. She had electric blue eyes and was wearing faded blue jeans with a light colored tank top under a leather apron. She looked to be around twenty and had a tattoo on her right shoulder of two blacksmith's hammers crossed over an anvil with a fire for a background.

"So you're Leo? Nice to meet you." She said, sticking out her hand. When Leo took it, he wasn't too surprised to find it calloused and with a strong grip.

"Alright, the katana's over here." Mac said as she led them over to a cupboard built into the stone walls. Mac opened it and carefully pulled out a long bundle. She set it on the table in the middle of the room and unwrapped the leather wrappings carefully, to reveal a single katana blade. Leo was surprised that it was the exact length as his old ones. Its blade had a slightly dark tint to it, but it was still as clear as a mirror. The hilt was wrapped in braided leather, not adorned with anything fancy; just standard. Leo picked it up carefully, checking it over for any faults before giving it an experimental swing. It was balanced perfectly for him, exactly like his lost katanas. Mac and Shade looked at him expectantly as he set it back on the table.

He grinned.

"It's perfect." He said. Mac smiled.

"'Course it is. It ain't in my nature to make a crappy blade. Come by around dinner and I should have its partner done. I'm working on it right now. In the meantime, you can take this one with you." Mac replied, taking a sheath from beneath the tabletop and handing it to Leo who slid the blade into it before slinging it over his shoulder so the hilt stuck up over his right shoulder.

"Alright, now that that's all settled, I have some orders to get back to as well as your other blade. I'll see you later with the other one." Mac said, sliding open the door to her workroom and closing it behind her before the outer room got too hot.

"Come on, I'll show you where the training rooms are." Shade said, leading him out. Leo followed a step behind her as she headed towards the doorway closest to the blacksmith's, which happened to be occupied by Zayne who was twirling a throwing knife around his fingers with extreme skill seeing as how he wasn't paying even the slightest attention to it as he leaned against the doorway, looking away from them as they approached. Leo looked around for Xavier, but he'd apparently been called off. Zayne's intent gazed was centered inside the room he blocked. This was probably where he kept all the weapons.

"Hey Zayne, I need a training room and a shooting range." Shade said as they reached the lynx. Zayne turned to look at them, still twirling the blade.

"All I got is an open training area. Shooting range is done full up. I can get Seth or Crea to set up some targets for ya once their done with their work. Just hold on a sec." he said, walking into his store room. Leo and Shade followed. The walls were covered in weapons of all sorts; bows, knives, swords, guns, daggers, dirks, rifles.

Every weapon known to man.

Ever.

Leo even saw a mace and chain hanging just above the floor. Two mutants were in the middle of the massive store room, unpacking more weapons. They were the two jaguars Leo had seen the day before with Shade and Tristen. Zayne was watching them with an approving eye, grunting every time they put something in the wrong spot. Or, at least Leo assumed so as this only happed once and the female jaguar moved the scythe to some place more fitting which earned her a nod from Zayne. As soon as the box was empty and all the weapons were put in their proper place, Zayne and the two jaguars headed over to Shade and Leo.

"Seth would you and Crea take the Sergeant and the Rookie to the empty training room and help set it up." Zayne said, more of an order than a request. Both jaguars nodded to Zayne and headed off through the store room towards a door on the back wall, Leo and Shade following. The door opened up to a hallway with doors on each side, distanced apart for the rooms beyond with a long window along the span of each room, revealing a large shooting range for guns, another for bows, another for slings, and yet another for throwing knives. These four took up the first part of the hall, two shooting rangers on either side. All the other windows revealed training rooms behind in which humans and mutants trained with weapons or just hand-to-hand. The hall was filled with the sounds of gunshots, the clash of weapons, and grunts from training. However, these were somewhat muted. Leo guessed the rooms were all semi-soundproofed. The jaguars led them to the very end of the hall, opening the door and ushering them in. The male jaguar began to set up targets as the female turned to Leo and Shade.

"So Serge, you gonna formally introduce me and the Rookie?" she asked. Shade smiled.

"Leo, this is Crea. She's one of Zayne's apprentices and also a member of the chamber. Over there is her twin, Seth." Shade said. Crea smiled widely at Leo.

"I'm the youngest." She said. Seth came back over.

"Targets are set up for ya Serge. As for the Rookie, the training bots are stashed in the closet, as usual." He said. Shade nodded to him

"Thanks Seth. I'll let you know if we need anything." She replied. Seth dipped his head respectfully and left the room, heading back to Zayne.

"See ya Serge, later Rookie." Crea said, hastily dipping her head to Shade before racing after her brother, shutting the door behind her.

"What's with all this 'rookie' stuff?" Leo asked. Shade smiled, laughing gently.

"It's nothing personal Leo. It's just that you're new here. You weren't born into the Outcasts, you were brought in. That makes you a rookie. Don't worry, it'll go away after a week or so, once they fully accept you as a fellow member." She said. Leo didn't tell her that he was planning on heading home as soon as he could. He felt like that would disappoint her and he didn't wanna do that.

So far, she and Xavier were the only two people he'd connected with in any way.

Shade headed over to the targets that'd been set up for her. She adjusted them a little then stepped back to check that they were right.

"So, Seth said that the training bots were in a closet." Leo said, looking around for it.

"Right over there." Shade answered, pointing to a closet set into the wall. He could barely discern the door from the rest of the wall. He walked over and opened it. Inside were a couple of training bots. Leo pulled one out and leaned it against the wall, judging it. Shade came over and closed the closet door. Leo began to drag the bot out into the middle of the room, but Shade stopped him.

"I'll do it. I don't wanna get chewed out by Lex for you undoing her work on fixing you up." She said, taking it and dragging it to the middle of the room.

"Yeah, I've been wondering about that. If my leg's broken, why aren't I on crutches or something?" he asked. Shade smiled.

"Two reasons. One, with a broken arm, crutches would be pretty much useless, especially because of how yours broke. Two, your leg wasn't broken too badly, so you can walk on it without too much pain and it won't do any damage. Lex got really technical at that point, but that's the gist of it." She answered. Leo nodded, watching curiously as she lifted a panel on the back of the training bot and did something. The robot came to life, electric eyes lighting up as Shade shut the panel and stepped back.

"Leo, meet your opponent. Jarak made a boatload of the things some years back. He's been upgrading them every few months or so." She said.

"Sounds like a very smart, tech loving guy." Leo said.

"Well, sort of. Jarak prefers to be in the middle of the action, but he's amazing with tech so does both. Lately though, he's had to do more tech than anything else. So, back to right now, I set this to just above easy so you don't undo all of Lex's hard work. Like I said, I do not wanna get chewed out by her. You do no wanna get on that chick's bad side. She can make your nightmares seem like a happy place. Anyway, just let it know when you're ready and it'll start." Shade said.

"Why easy? I mean, I get the whole not undoing all Lex's work, but wouldn't medium be at least a little challenging?" Leo asked. Shade smiled.

"For this bot, easy just means it'll mostly dogs your attacks and when it attacks, it won't' feel like a brick wall slamming into you. Here, put these on." She said, tossing him a set of muting headphone. Leo gave them a curious look over then slipped them on, noting that Shade had something somewhat similar covering her own ears. She gestured for Leo to start with the bot before she turned to her targets. Leo continued to watch her as she swiftly drew her two pistols, cocked them, and fired rapidly into the targets that had been set up.

Twelve targets; one for each bullet with six bullets in each gun.

As the last show rang out, Shade twirled her smoking guns and holstered them. She turned around; a small look of surprise on her face as she realized Leo had watched her the whole time.

"You're a good shot." He said as she walked over to him. She smiled and glanced to the floor, rubbing her left arm slightly, near her brand. Leo could've sworn her cheeks darkened a little; it was hard to tell with her black fur.

"Thanks." She finally said, glancing up at him. "You gonna fight that thing or what?" Leo shrugged.

"I guess so." He said. Shade wandered over to the wall with the window and leaned against it, folding her arms cross her chest and crossing her ankles, left over right. Leo unsheathed his new katana and held it before him in a two handed grip. The bot went into a fighting stance. Leo eyed it over one last time before twirling his katana and slicing it down in an arc at its waist.

The bot jumped back, sweeping a leg at Leo's stomach in the same movement. The wind was knocked out of Leo was the bot's foot connected. He stumbled back, pulling in ragged gasps of air. The bot backed up, waiting until Leo recovered. Leo shot a glance over at Shade to see that she was cleaning out her left pistol, eying them as she worked, her hands moving instinctively without her need to watch. Leo turned back to the bot and brought his katana up once more. The bot went back into a fighting stance.

Before Leo could strike again, the training room door flew open. A tall, lean, female mutant cheetah stood in the doorway, wearing the usual Outcast attire of dark jeans and a dark colored tank top. Her right ear was torn and bleeding and there was a bullet hole on the side of her right pant leg. It couldn't've been deep since it wasn't bleeding badly. It was most likely just a flesh wound.

The cheetah saluted to Shade who had stood up from the wall. Shade returned the salute. The cheetah relaxed as both their hands dropped to their sides.

"Sergeant Ma'am, the Traitor's followers have broken in through the front entrance." The cheetah said. Shade cursed under her breath.

"Where's Mother Silvia?" she asked.

"Getting all sick, wounded, elders and kids into the safe rooms."

"My brother?"

"On the front lines."

"Alright, thanks Kayla. Do me a favor and take Leo to the safe rooms. I gotta go join Tristen." Shade said, loading her pistols and bolting out of the room before Leo could protest. Kayla turned to Leo and gestured for him to follow. She led him down the hallways just as Shade closed the Armory door behind her. Kayla unlocked a door at the front of the hallway, beside the one into the Armory, by pressing her hand against the wall and allowing a green light to scan her hand. She slid the door open and dragged Leo through.

The door slid shut behind them silently, plunging them into darkness. Kayla flicked open a lighter and lit a lantern. She stuffed the light back into her pocket and held the lantern up high, checking the door. Satisfied it was locked securely, Kayla took Leo's hand of his good arm and, as quickly as possible, led him down what Leo took to be a tunnel. It was deathly quiet save the dull thud of their footsteps. Finally, Leo could hear the shuffling of many feet and whispered voices. He was able to pick out Mother Silvia's voice, encouraging them all to hurry on. After turning a corner, Kayla and Leo ran into them. Xavier waved them over, obviously relieved to see them. Leo realized there was a camouflage blanket covering a doorway which everyone was going through into a large room with space for them all. As the last of the others went in, Leo, Kayla, Xavier, and Mother Silvia all walked in, closing the solid iron door behind them. Lanterns were lit all around the room as everyone settled down, whispering quietly to each other. Leo looked up at the earthen ceiling, wondering what was going on up above.


	7. Chapter 6

Shade stopped briefly in the Armory and grabbed a box of bullets for her revolvers. Satisfied she was ready, Shade headed to the door and threw it open, stepping out quickly and slamming the door behind her. It automatically locked as it shut.

It was absolute chaos in the main cavern.

Smoke from gunfire mingled with dust thrown up by hundreds of feet, gunshots mixed with the sound of blade upon blade, people yelled in pain, anger, or just for the heck of it. Shade had seen battles before, but it still took her a second to get her head in the moment.

She drew her pistols, cocking back the hammers, ready to fire. She sighted on the closest enemy to her and fired a single bullet into his skull. He dropped instantly. Kyler, who'd been close to being skewered by the sword of Shade's target, stood up and grinned at Shade and shot her a thumbs up. She smiled back and continued firing into the enemy until her remaining eleven bullets were spent. She reloaded and stuck her pistols back in their holsters. There was time for them later. She drew out her daggers and launched herself into the battle.

A good amount of the enemy fighters were those who'd left the Outcasts with the Traitor when he'd been exiled; his followers. Shade gazed around, searching for her brother. Finally she spotted him, long bladed dirk in hand as he fought a human traitor. Shade made her way towards him, slashing at any enemy who got in her way. By the time she reached her brother, he'd already dispatched his opponent. As she approached him, he whirled on her, bringing up his blade to strike. Shade held up her hand mockingly. Tristen rolled his eyes and dropped his weapon to his side.

"So Kayla got to you. Where is she?" he asked.

"I told her to take Leo to the safe rooms with the others. How are things going out here?" Shade replied. Tristen shrugged as a traitor approached him. He swung out with his foot, slamming it into the other guy's gut, successfully driving the wind from him. As he doubled over gasping for air, Tristen crouched and slammed the heel of his hand into the soft part of the guy's nose, the force of his rising body behind it. The guy's head flew back and he stumbled backwards, falling to the ground. He lay there, desperately trying to catch his breath with his broken nose bleeding profoundly.

Tristen turned back to his sister. "No matter how many we take down, more just keep floodin' in. We need to drive them out; any ideas?" Shade gazed around, taking in everything. An idea slowly began to form.

"Do we have any smoke bombs and those spark grenades?" Shade asked.

Tristen looked a little shocked. "Shade, even that's a little extreme.

"You never said it had to be a good one. Honestly, if you've got something better, I'd be more than happy to take you up on it. Now do we?" she asked. Tristen sighed and shook his head.

"Alright, there's a small crate full of spark grenades in Mac's storage room. I know where the smoke bombs are and I'll get them out through our troops." He answered. Shade nodded thanks.

"Start evacuating our troops. Hold the traitors off with whatever you can; fire arrows, bullets, anything as long as it's long range. I'll handle the rest." Shade said. She kissed him on the cheek and raced away before he could object. Tristen didn't want to put his sister in harm's way, but she was stubborn and he knew better than to argue with her. He turned and called a retreat, issuing orders on how to hold the enemy off and sending people to get smoke bombs, just as his sister had requested.

Shade quickly made her way through the fight towards Mac's workshop. Any enemy who got in her way, she simply shot to wound, having replaced her daggers with her revolvers. It took her a few minutes, but she finally reached the door to Mac's workshop. She shoved open the door, disappearing inside before shutting it quickly behind her. The crate wasn't hard to find as it was close to the door. She carefully grabbed three. The low powered grenades were only about as big as a marble, but they packed one hell of a punch. They were activated by force alone, so one had to be extremely careful when handling them.

Shade holstered her revolvers and carefully placed the three grenades between her fingers, separating them to make sure they wouldn't be activated accidentally. She turned to go and was relieved to see no one had followed her in. The last thing she needed was a confrontation. She checked the door to make sure no one was waiting for her. Satisfied, she stepped back into the main cavern.

The Outcasts were successfully holding the Traitor's forces at bay with fire and a barricade built of just about everything. Those few brave or foolish enough to pass both were quickly cut down. Some of the enemies were actually retreating, although not nearly enough to put much of a dent in their numbers; at least half still remained. Shade estimated them to be around four hundred strong.

Shade moved towards the entrance way, sticking along the edge of the enemy. Luckily, she'd stuffed her badge into her shirt. However, her brand was clearly visible despite her dark fur. Surprisingly, she was more than halfway to the entrance before someone noticed. The group of three or four advanced on her. Shade glanced around. She wasn't as close as she'd like to be, but it would do just as well. Her arm came back, ready to throw a spark grenade, aiming for somewhere within the Traitor's ranks that wouldn't cause herself harm. She brought her arm forward, launching one of the spark grenades into the air.

As it hit the ground, it exploded in a bright flash of light, forcing Shade to look away, and a high pitched bang which made her wince and cover her sensitive ears. Those closest were blown back into their comrades. This first explosion was the signal for Tristen to release the smoke bombs, which he did, flooding the cavern with smoke. Shade ran towards her side, dodging the enemy. As she reached the barricade, she threw the two remaining spark grenades into the butt of the enemy and sent them running with explosions as well as gunfire from her side.

The Outcasts charged after them, yelling and firing as they drove them from their home, slamming the doors shut behind the enemy and making sure they were securely locked. A massive cheer arose from the Outcasts at the outstanding victory. None of their fellows had been killed and the majority of injuries were minor and would, at most, take a week to fully heal. Shade and Tristen found each other, wrapping the other up in a victory hug. As they released each other, they turned to their warriors.

"Alright, I need everyone's help cleaning up this mess. Help the wounded into the infirmary, take care of the dead enemy and clean up everything else." Tristen said, dismissing them all to begin.

"I'll go down and get everyone from the safe rooms." Shade said, heading into Zayne's Armory.


	8. Chapter 7

Leo sat on the floor of the safe room, his back against the wall with his casted leg out. Beside him sat Xavier, constantly shifting, obviously restless. Leo didn't blame him. After all, the kid's older sister was up above fighting. Leo decided to calm his nerves by talking.

"How long have you been Jarak's apprentice?" he asked.

Xavier cocked his head thoughtfully before answering. "Since I was seven. He said he chose me because of my energy and curiosity; said they were good qualities for surveillance work."

"Remember how I mentioned my brother Donnie this morning, before breakfast?" Leo asked. Xavier nodded.

"In a way, you kinda remind me of him. Well, him and Mikey. Mikey's my youngest brother. He's pretty energetic and a massive handful." He said. Xavier laughed.

"Sounds like my kind of people. What about your other brother?" Xavier asked.

"Raph? He's another handful. Major hot head, loves to fight and doesn't really think about the consequences of his actions. We tend to clash on most things. Although, ever since he met Jezra, he's been a little less of all that. A lot of the time, he acts the same as before, but sometimes he mellows down a little." Leo answered.

"Who's Jezra? his girlfriend?" Xavier asked. Leo laughed.

"Kind of. She's a human we saved a couple of months ago from the Kraang when she was knocked out by a bomb. Raph and her got pretty close. Eventually, we got her back to her three brothers. Not long after, Jezra and her brothers were called out of the state on a case. That was about two months ago and we haven't seen or heard from them since." Leo explained.

"Case? What kind of case?" Xavier asked.

"Jezra and her brothers catch serial killers. It's dangerous work, but as far as we know they're still alive." Leo answered. Xavier nodded.

"Sounds kinda cool." He said. Leo laughed.

"Yeah, maybe." He answered. Just then, the safe room door opened. Shade popped her head in, holding her lantern high as it added its glow to the small collection of lanterns clustered in the center of the room.

"Skirmish is over and it's safe to head back up." She said. The slight tension that had overhung the room disappeared and those in the room began to get up and leave, helping the sick and wounded. Shade waited at the door as they filed past. Leo and Xavier waited for everyone else to leave, remaining against the wall. As the final person left, Shade stepped into the room and walked over to Leo and Xavier, leaving the door open. She slid down next to Leo and brought her knees up.

"So, when you mentioned you were under siege, I take it that also included random attacks on the base itself?" Leo asked. Shade nodded.

"Pretty much. Sorry for forcing you down here." She said. Leo shrugged her apology off. He understood that in his current condition, he would've simply gotten in the way. That didn't really make him feel any less useless. Shade smiled at him as if reading his thoughts.

"You know, if I can teach you to shoot a gun, you just might be able to help. Course, it'd have to be from a distance, but it's not really breaking the agreement Tristen and Lex made. Although, if they don't see it that way, just let them know it was my idea." Shade said. Leo smiled and nodded.

"Alrighty then, I'll see you in the shooting range after lunch. Speaking of which, I think we have about an hour until then. I have some work to get to. Feel free to wander the base." Shade said, rising to her feet and leaving. The two guys watched her go, her lantern flickering on the walls.

Xavier turned to Leo. "Ready to see my work room?"

"Sure thing bud." Leo answered, rising.


	9. Chapter 8

Leo followed Xavier down the passageway and out into the hall of the training rooms. They left through Zayne's armory and exited out into the main cavern.

It was a total mess; weapons strewn everywhere, fires being put out and massive scorch marks in the floor around three, foot wide holes. Among the members cleaning up, Leo spotted Shade as she helped pile debris into a large pile in the middle of the cavern. Xavier led Leo to the stairs and they climbed up to the first balcony, then over to the second set of stairs and then up those to the final balcony. Xavier headed to a small door set in the wall and opened it, entering the room beyond. Leo followed, shutting the door behind him.

The room they were now in wasn't too big, but had enough space for the couch alongside the wall directly in front of him and the set of monitors a few paces to his left with two swivel chairs parked there. Xavier flopped down into one of them, spinning it in a slow circle.

"Welcome to my own, private little corner of the world." He said.

"Nice." Leo answered, walking over and taking the other chair.

"These are the security cams spread out through the base and above ground. Right here is where I control the music. I have a lot of country at Shade's insistence. She loves country music. I don't really understand it so much. I can listen to it just fine, but I don't get into it as much as she does.

"Cool. Hey, Shade mentioned something about a radio being put in my room. Know anything about that?" Leo said. Xavier nodded, grinning.

"Yeah, I think she had them put it in there after breakfast. I jacked it up last night with all my music. It's over-loaded with country, rock, rap, pop and I even put some techno and dubstep in there for ya. You're gonna love it!" Xavier said, getting excited.

Leo laughed. "I'm sure I will."

"So, I reckon now's a pretty good time to show you all the music like I promised." Xavier said.

"Sure." Leo answered, moving his chair closer as Xavier opened up his music program.

The two of them spent the next hour going through Xavier's music, only stopping because of the bell ringing through the base, signaling lunch. Leo looked to Xavier quizzically.

"I thought the bell came through the speakers from here." He said.

"Oh, it comes through the speakers, just not from here. Jarak usually does it since he has direct contact to every room of the base. There's a private intercom set into the wall of every room, except dorms. You press a button and get direct contact to Jarak. So, Emma uses it to tell him when a meal is ready and he sounds the bell." Xavier exclaimed.

"Well, I think we'd better head down if we ever want to get food." Leo said. Xavier nodded eagerly and the two left his workroom and headed down to the cavern floor. The pile of debris set up in the middle of the cavern was in full blaze. The doors were wide open, the smoke instantly floating towards the way outside. Armed members stood at the doorway in case they were attacked again. Around the blaze were members with hoses in case the fire got out of hand.

"What're they doing?" Leo asked, a little confused.

"Burning the debris. They burn it down to ash and then they can use that ash for crops." Xavier said as he led Leo towards the Mess. Leo watched for a second longer before following. It sounded like a pretty smart idea.


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N: So, I realized that some of the foods I'm mentioning may seem like a stereotype for southerners. It's not, these were just what I was craving at the time of writing those chapters.**

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><p>Lunch consisted of salad and grilled chicken. Emma watched approvingly as three young kitchen helpers served the chamber members, correcting them occasionally. As soon as they were done, she led them back towards the kitchens with their empty trays. Leo began eating, listening to Xavier as he explained how Leo's stereo would work and how to activate the playlist Xavier had made just for him. Shade was in deep conversation with mother Silvia and her brother. Every now and then he'd catch a small snippet of their conversation, enough to tell they were talking of the morning's attack. After a little while, he was able to figure out that they thought someone inside the Outcasts had betrayed them and this wasn't the first time they'd thought that. He decided to bring it up with Shade later. With that, he ignored their conversation and listened again to Xavier as he finished lunch.<p>

Leo waited until his training with Shade after lunch to ask her about her suspicions.

"So, you think it was an inside job?" he asked once they were alone. She raised an eyebrow at him, telling him she knew exactly what he was talking about.

"So you were listening. Good, I was hoping you would. As to the question; it's the only thing that makes sense. No one outside the Outcasts can get into the base. We made sure of that after the Traitor was exiled with those who were found to follow him. So, the enemy had to've been let in by someone inside. Add to that, supplies have gone missing recently from all over. Not too much to draw attention, but enough to make me think that they're not just being misplaced. It doesn't matter that I don't want to believe someone under my command betrayed us, but I gotta face the facts, no matter how dark they are." She said. Leo nodded in agreement. He didn't really know what to say.

"Well, we'll save that for another time. For now, let's teach you how to use a gun." Shade said, walking to the table against the opposite wall from the door. On the table was a revolver, just like Shade's, and a box of bullets. They were in the training room from before, which confused Leo.

"Why are we back in here? I thought there were actual shooting rangers." He said.

"There are, but for a Rookie shooter, being along works best. Less pressure that way. That, and it's my favorite way to practice shooting. Doesn't feel like the whole world has its eyes on your every move, just waiting for you to make a mistake." Shade answered, the last part a little quieter. Leo watched her, unsure of what to say, as she picked up the revolver and loaded it, flicking the chambers back with the skill of someone who had spent most of their life around guns. She turned and held it carefully out to him.

"This is a Colt Single Action Army revolver or, as I've always heard it called, a Colt Peacemaker. It's among the most famous pieces of Americana. It's known as 'The Gun That Won the West'. It shoots .45 caliber bullets with a six shot cylinder." She explained.

"Six shot cylinder?" Leo asked, taking the revolver in both hands. He hadn't understood most of the information she'd given him, but the last bit sounded the most important to him.

"You can get off six shots before you have to reload. We tend to start Rookies off with revolvers since they tend to have fewer shots than a pistol. Revolvers can be a little more difficult than other guns, but if you start with the difficult, everything else becomes a little easier. At least, that's what my dad always taught me." Shade said.

Leo nodded. "Sounds reasonable enough."

Shade smiled and proceeded to show him how to aim the gun and hold it correctly to account for the slight kick it would give. She showed him how to cock and fire the revolver. After all six shots were spent, Shade showed him how to reload the six chambers then prepare the gun to fire again.

Leo spent the next couple hours learning how to handle, load and fire the revolver. Shade would step in to give Leo advice or to fix something, but, as the minutes passed, this happened less and less until she didn't intervene at all, just stood to the side and watched.

When the dinner bell rang, Leo opened the chamber on his revolver. After making sure no bullets were left, he placed it back on the table. Shade remained by the door and as soon as he was done, the two left for the Mess.

"I'll show you how to clean it tomorrow. You're a natural with that gun. You sure you've never used one before?" she teased. He laughed.

"Yeah, I'm sure. My Sensei wasn't really into the whole 'gun' thing." He answered, sadness creeping into his tone. Shade decided not to point out that he'd used past tense when speaking of his Sensei. It made her think of Sam.

"I think you'll be able to use a glock in a few weeks. That's what most of the Outcasts use." She said, breaking the sad silence that had settled over them.

Leo smiled. "Sounds fun, but if everyone else uses glocks, why do you use revolvers?"

Shade took out one of her revolvers at this and handed it to him. He looked it over and she pointed out an engraving on the handle, faded, but definitely there.

"S.T?" He looked at her, confused.

"Samuel Taylor. These revolvers belonged to the man who raised me. He gave them to me for my tenth birthday. I've used them ever since." She said, smiling.

"Shade, there's something else I've been meaning to ask you. You told me this morning that you and Tristen spent a few years on the streets and that's where you were mutated and picked up by Sam. So, where's your biological father?" he asked. Shade's face hardened. Apparently, that wasn't a good spot of her life.

"Me and Tristen ran away from home when we were around seven. Our mom was killed in a car accident a few years prior. We barely remember her, but we for sure remember our dad always being around and being nice and everything. After our mom died, he got into drinking and he got pretty abusive. That's why we ran away. Actually, it was Tristen's idea. He knew more than me that it was wrong what our dad was doing. We weren't on the streets for more than a few months, maybe half a year. Tristen did his best to look out for me and I tried to do the same. He wasn't actually around when the accident happened; he was off getting food. The whole thing was actually my fault. I never could sit still with everything going on around me. Tristen's actually the only reason I'm still here after that." She answered.

"So, when Sam found you two…" he trailed off.

"It was a really cold night. It gets like that sometimes here. Tristen had managed to get an old blanket from some place earlier that day because it'd started to get cold at night. We were in some abandoned part of town, I don't even remember off the top of my head, but I'd recognize it right off if someone pointed it out. Sam approached us and asked if we wanted someplace warm to stay. Tristen was obviously on guard. I mean, he had every right to be. Two kids out on the streets and a random guy comes to talk to you? Add to that the fact that his younger sister had become a mutant fox. Sam wasn't alone though. He was with another girl, about my age, and a slightly younger mutant. I reckon they were the reason we came along. Good thing we did too. Any guesses to the girl and the mutant?" she asked, a hint of a laugh in her voice.

"Alix and Kyler. It's not that hard to guess. You and Alix are best friends; it makes sense that that's why." He answered. She laughed.

"Yeah, I guess it is." She said as they entered the Mess.


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N: Just saying, the books mentioned here are two of my all time favorites which is why I chose them. I dunno why, I just felt like saying that. Anyways, Thanksgiving break has started which gives me a four day weekend so, if I'm lucky, I can get a lot of these chapters typed up and I can post them. We're getting pretty close to the end and the next book it going really well. Anyways, sorry for holding ya'll up. You can start reading now =D**

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><p>Leo awoke to the breakfast bell ringing. Realizing that if he wanted breakfast he'd have to hurry, he rolled out of bed. Something fell off his chest as he did so and landed dully on the floor. He leaned down and picked it up, seeing that it was the book he'd been reading the night before, <em>White Fang.<em> Shade had given it to him when he'd finished reading _Call of the Wild_ for the second time.

As he left his room and headed for the Mess, Leo thought back on the time he'd lived in the Outcasts. It had been almost three months since he'd shown up at the Outcasts and a lot had changed for him. He was now among the top shooters of the Outcasts, a top class sniper. His broken limbs were fully healed, their only remnant being the long scar on his right forearm where the bond had popped out and then put back in place with screws and stitched up. On his back were his two katanas that Mac had crafted specifically for him and a .9mm Beretta 92 was tucked into its holster that was clipped to his right hip. A little over a week ago, he'd made the decision to join the Outcasts and now wore the Outcasts' 'loose' uniform; a pair of dark jeans. He also had a black hoodie to go with it. Added to this, he had a tattoo on the left side of his neck; two katana crossed behind a smoking gun with a viper wrapped around the ensemble, head reared above the blades, jaws open wide. He'd gotten it just a week ago, actually a few days after joining, from a mutant white tiger named Nakita. Shade had been there with him and had even suggested the viper. The two of them were almost always together and had become very close. Leo'd also become very close with Xavier, but not the way he had with Shade. Over the past month, he and Shade had taken to going off to some place private for the two of them to hand out, even managing to get up to the surface a few times with no trouble…

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><p><em>This was maybe their fifteenth time going off together. Shade had taken him to the rooftop of the abandoned storage building that housed the entrance to the base. He laid back against a skylight and Shade sat beside him with her head on his chest, his arm moving around her waist and holding her close.<em>

_ "Do you think you'll stay?" she asked suddenly after a few minutes of silence. Leo hesitated, thinking about his answer. His brothers had probably stopped searching for him now. He knew they needed him, but knew that was also the reason he couldn't go back. They depended on him too much to be the level-headed, 'fearless' leader so that they could goof off and shirk their responsibilities. With him gone, they'd have to grow up and stop being so childish. He longed to go back, if only to set their minds at ease. To let them know that he was okay; was still alive. He sighed sadly, his mind in turmoil._

_ "Is that a no?" Shade asked, looking up at him._

_ "It's complicated. I want to go back, but if I do they'll never learn to be responsible for themselves and their actions. Now that I say it out loud, I guess it's a little stupid." He replied._

_ "No, it's not." She smiled up at him. "So, is that a yes?"_

_ Leo couldn't help but smile at the hint of hope in her voice._

_ "Do you really want me to?" he replied with his own question._

Would that really be so bad?

_ "Uh-uh, I asked you first. Twice actually." She said._

_ "No, it was two different questions." He said, earning a glare from her._

_ "Yes, I'll stay." He said, smiling and looking down at her. She smiled and reached up her hand, the one not on his shoulder, to pull him down into a kiss. Leo's eyes flashed with his shock as she caught him off guard before he leaned in closer, closing his eyes. He pushed away for a second._

_ "So, that answers my first question." He said, unable to hide his wide smile. Shade laughed, unable to hide a small one of her own._

_ "That implies you have a second."_

_ "Well, I do now. Does this officially make us a couple?" he asked._

_ "Instead of answering that, how 'bout we just take this a step further?" she asked. Leo, at first confused, realized what she was saying. His first reaction was shock, but then his lips spread into a smile._

_ "I think I can live with that. Fair warning, it'll be my first."_

_ "Good and no worries; mine too." Shade answered, going back to their kiss as he helped her remove her gun belt. As it slid off, he pulled her closer to him and deepened their kiss._

_ Leo shivered, wishing they'd brought a blanket. Shade, despite having warm fur, shivered beside him and he pulled her closer to him._

_ "Next time, let's do this someplace warm." He said._

_ "No protests here." Shade answered._

_ "Maybe we should head back now." Leo said. Shade nodded and stood up, picking up her clothes and dressing. Leo stood and waited as he had no clothes of his own at the moment._

_ "I just realized something; you're brother's gonna kill me." Leo said as they headed back down to the base._

_ "Only if he finds out." Shade smiled mischievously. "I won't tell if you won't."_

_ Leo smiled despite himself. "Well, if he does, at least I'll die happily."_

_ "Besides, even if he does find out, you'll get lucky. Now, if it was Tristen _and_ my dad, then I'd send you off." She said._

_ "Well that makes me feel _loads_ better."_

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><p>Leo smiled to himself as he entered the Mess, heading straight for the head table. For some reason, he'd never left it. Now that he'd joined the Outcasts, he'd been added to the Chamber as somewhat of a liaison from outside the Outcasts home ground and also someone who knew more about the Kraang which had inadvertently created most of the mutant members of the Outcasts. The Kraang had moved out years ago though, so no mutants had been created for quite some time. Most of the younger mutants were born rather than created. He still maintained his place beside Shade. Looking at her, he couldn't help but smile. Since the night on the rooftop, they'd done the same thing every now and then and had kept to the idea of staying in warm places, although they had gone up on the surface a few times. It was one of the many things convincing him to stay, that this was where he belonged.<p>

"So, anything planned for today?" Shade asked. Her tone suggested she had a job for him rather than wanting to get some alone time.

"Nope. Whaddaya need?" he asked.

"Can't tell you here. Meet up in the Chamber room. Tristen'll be there too along with some others." Shade said. Leo nodded and began eating, wondering what they needed him for.


	12. Chapter 11

**Happy slightly late Thanksgiving people!**

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><p>Leo entered the Chamber Room shortly after breakfast. Xavier, who'd also been summoned, walked at his side as he hummed along to the song playing through the base. Leo recognized it as <em>This Ain't a Scene, It's An Arms Race <em>by Fall Out Boy, Xavier's favorite band. He found them pretty good too. When they entered, Leo noticed how little of the Chamber members were actually assembled in the Chamber Room. Tristen, Shade, Mother Silvia, Jarak and Alix were the only other people there.

"Alright, let's get started." Tristen said as the doors closed behind them. Jarak nodded and turned to a projection screen behind them all and pushed a button on a remote. Pictures of surveillance flashed up onto the screen; a supply truck being loaded with crates by humans and concealed mutants, two people meeting outside a café and tons of other photos.

"Leo, this is mostly a fill in for you. Remember all those conversations about the Traitor?" Shade asked. He nodded. It was the one subject that tended to keep resurfacing, especially after he joined the Chamber.

"These are all of his operations and higher ranking followers as well as suspected followers." Shade said, gesturing to the screen.

"Unfortunately, we have none of the Traitor, but Shade's told you before what he looks like." Tristen said, moving to the screen. He pointed at a person in a picture of a truck being loaded with crates. "This is the only existing picture of the Traitor's right hand man. His name is Ashur Cals."

"Is he from us?" Leo asked, wondering if this Ashur was a former Outcast like the Traitor. His question was answered with a shake of the head from Tristen.

"No. Ashur was accepted into the Traitor's ranks within days after his exile. We think that they knew each other before he was exiled. Ashur may've even been the one to suggest killing Sam and me." He answered. There was silence for a few seconds. A thought that had been bugging Leo for a while decided to raise its head.

"Something on your mind Leo?" Shade asked.

_Of course it would be her to notice, _he thought.

"Yeah, how come you guys never us the Traitor's name? I've been here almost three or four months and I don't even know his real name." Leo stated.

Shade hesitated a second before answering. "I guess, in a way, we're all just trying to forget he was ever one of us, kind of distancing ourselves from him."

"Michael Dae." Mother Silvia spoke out suddenly. Everyone turned to her, most looking shocked at her words. Shade, he noted, simply looked pissed at the mention of the name.

"Oh come on, saying it doesn't do anything. Names don't have any power unless you give it to them. Saying his name won't cause him to magically appear." Mother Silvia chastised them.

"No, but it does piss some of us off." Alix said, looking to her best friend whose eyes still gleamed with pent up fury. Tristen, despite being a master at concealing his emotions, looked pretty pissed too.

Leo decided to break the ensuing silence. "So, what exactly were we called here for?"

"We've got some intel that Ashur will be at a warehouse to oversee some weapons receiving from an out of state gang." Alix answered, picking up on the hint.

"Who's intel?" Leo asked.

"That's need to know and, if we're lucky, you won't have to meet him for a long time." Alix said.

"Leo," Shade interjected, "You're going to go with Alix and Nakita to overlook this. I want to know what weapons their getting and how much. This is just a recon mission, so no altercations unless absolutely necessary."

"Alright." He answered.

"What about me?" Xavier asked.

"You're with me on over watch kiddo." Jarak said. Xavier nodded at his mentor and went over to him.

"Nakita will meet you top side. These are your communicators, plus one for Nakita." Jarak said as he handed them each an ear piece which they then slipped in. They saluted to the others who returned it. Alix turned and headed out with Leo on her heels. As he entered out onto the upper balcony behind Alix, someone gently grasped his arm and pulled him off to the side. Leo, well aware of who it belonged to, followed.

Shade led him to the wall at the end of the balcony where no one could eavesdrop. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and deepened the passionate kiss.

"Promise me you'll be careful." She said, breaking the kiss. He smiled at her and kissed her again.

"Of course." He said as they released each other. They headed towards the stairs, holding hands. When they reached the cavern floor, Leo said goodbye and released her hand before heading through the small entrance door set in the wall beside the larger ones. He walked up the sloping, road like path until he reached the garage like door that led into the storage building that housed the base's entrance. Nakita and Alix were waiting for him.

Nakita was a tall, well-muscled, white tiger with many tattoos covering her body. She wore the typical dark jeans as well as a strapless tank top covered by a trench coat that went down to her paws, but not so much so that she would trip on the hem of the coat. This was to hide her bright white fur. She was armed with some throwing knives, two tomahawks and a short sword. Alix was armed with a pistol holstered on her left hip with a long dagger strapped beside it. Leo himself was armed with his 'new' katanas and his Beretta. He zipped up his hoodie and popped up the hood, ready to go. Alix led the way and the other two followed.

As she watched the door close behind him, Shade felt someone rest a hand on her shoulder. She turned to look at her older brother.

"They'll be alright." He said, noting her concern.

"How do you know?" She asked. He grinned.

"I don't, but they're some of our greatest. Come on; let's see if we can help out in the kitchens." Tristen replied. Shade shot a glance back to the door before nodding. Some work would keep her mind off of Leo. She wasn't too worried about Alix and Nakita; they'd done this sort of thing a million times on their own. The siblings turned and headed towards the Mess Hall and the kitchens. Shade began a mental chant to reassure herself.

_He'll be fine….he'll be fine….he'll be fine…._


	13. Chapter 12

Leo crouched up on a ceiling beam as crates were loaded into a truck below him. The three of them had split up, Leo taking the high ground while Alix took the low and Nakita went on guard to warn them of more people.

"I can't tell what's in the crates." Alix's voice crackled through his earpiece. Leo reached up carefully to use it and answer her.

"Neither can I. I've counted at least fifty crates so far, but they don't look that big."

"They aren't. Maybe I can jump someone and see what's in 'em."

"No, that's too risky. We need another plan."

"Nakita's got a good nose. I'll switch with her; maybe she can tell." Leo saw something dart outside and knew it was Alix. No one below him seemed to notice. After a few moments, he caught sight of Nakita slipping in. She stopped behind some crates and looked up at him. He saw her hand move to her com.

"No promise this'll work."

"We're running out of options and it's a pretty good bet that it will." She nodded up at him and he saw her close her eyes and take a deep breath in through her nose.

There was a long pause before she spoke. "There's a lot of activity going on, but I think I've got it. I smell metal, gunpowder, and brass. Can't really tell what they make. Zayne'll probably know. We'll have to talk to him."

"Alright, thanks. Go out to Alix, I'll come down and join you in a sec." Nakita nodded up at him and left. Leo slowly stood up on the beam and headed back to the window he'd come in from. He climbed halfway down the side of the old building then dropped the rest of the way, rolling as he hit the ground. He stood up and began heading around to Alix and Nakita.

He froze suddenly.

He hadn't heard or seen anything to tip him off, but something didn't feel right. He listened carefully, ignoring the usual night sounds of Houston that he'd become so accustomed to. Nothing spoke out to him, but he trusted his gut; something was definitely not right. He slowly drew his gun. He made sure the safety was off and slid a bullet into the chamber, the small sound comforting him slightly, before turning around.

Nothing moved.

Some sixth sense told him to duck and, as he did so, a piece of wooden crate slammed down on his head. His vision blurred, but it could've been worse if he hadn't ducked. He stumbled and moved away from his assailant, firing at the blurred figure. Even disoriented as he was, his shot managed to graze the other person's shoulder. Leo's vision began to refocus, but he was still a little dazed. His assailant grunted angrily as the bullet scored a groove on his shoulder. Nakita and Alix, roused by the sound of gunfire, came around the corner of the building. They were halted by those from inside who'd also been alerted. This left Leo alone with his assailant.

He was a fairly well built man, but he wasn't massive. Leo felt fairly sure he could take him, even slightly disoriented as he was. The man charged at him and Leo switched his gun for his fists. He couldn't risk missing and hitting his companions. He ducked beneath the sudden charging blow of his attacker and swung upward into their gut with the rising force of his whole body. He felt the air shove out of the other person's body before they stumbled back and tried to catch their breath. He charged again for Leo who grabbed a handful of dirt, rocks, and other stuff from the ground, throwing it straight into his attacker's face, making sure to close his own eyes in case any breeze blew some back. The cry of pain and anger his attacker emitted somehow morphed into a demeaning laugh.

"Fighting dirty? What would your Sensei think, Leonardo? How would your Master Splinter feel?" He laughed. Leo froze, his heart pounding with shock that this stranger knew his name as well as his Sensei's. It was something small, but it spoke lengths as to who this person most likely was.

"I haven't seen my Sensei for a while. I've had to play a little dirtier than he would've liked. Of course, you're well away of that, aren't you Ashur?" He growled, listening once more to his gut. Ashur laughed again.

"Tell me, how do you think your brothers are faring without their 'fearless leader'?" he said mockingly. Leo gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

_He's trying to piss you off, knock you off guard, _he thought.

_And it's working, _Raph's voice echoed in. Leo couldn't help but smile. No matter how many times they butted heads, not seeing his brothers was hurting him. It was comforting to know he hadn't forgotten things, like their voices, and he felt he could live with them as his conscience. Although, so far, it was just Raph.

"They're fine. They don't need me to watch over them all the time." Leo answered. Ashur laughed.

"I've heard otherwise." He said cryptically. Leo's fists clenched again, but he pushed his anger down. Ashur was toying with him. He did his best to block him out. Leo noticed more Traitors, as he'd decided to call them, heading their way.

"Can't even take my on your own, Ashur?" Leo scoffed. Ashur smiled.

"We've got certain plans for you and I need you alive. On my own, I'm liable to kill you." He laughed before turning to the other Traitors. "Take him while I got take out those friends of his." They nodded as Ashur headed towards Nakita and Alix who were still fighting some other Traitors.

"Nakita, Alix! Get back to the base!" Leo yelled as the first of his new attackers charged him.

"We're not leaving you!" Nakita roared back.

"Do it! Get back to the base and tell Zayne and the others what we found." He yelled back as he dodged his attacker.

"Shade's gonna kill you." Alix called out, a bit of a laugh to her voice. With that, they sped back off towards the base. With a sigh of relief, Leo turned back to his opponents, flinging off one who'd managed to, literally, jump him from behind.

Eventually, they managed to subdue him. As he struggled to release himself, with his arms pinned behind his back and their arms over his chest to hold him in place, Ashur approached. He had a mocking smile on his face which made Leo all the more angry at him. Ashur halted a few feet away, holding all of Leo's raging attention. He was so caught up with his sudden hatred for Ashur; he barely felt the needle enter his arm. He did feel the sedative begin to race through his system as his limbs became limp and he slumped into the arms of his captors before it knocked him out.


	14. Chapter 13

Leo groaned as he woke up. It was a little cliché, but he felt sore all over. He opened his eyes and blinked a few times while his eyes adjust to the dim light.

"Well this is uncomfortably familiar." He muttered, gazing down at the chair he was tied to as his mind flashed back to his last day in New York.

"Good, you're awake. We can begin." A male voice said from the darkness and a man walked into the light.

He was around six feet and well-built with dark brown hair cut so short, Leo could see his skin between the hairs. He had dark green eyes and wore a pair of jeans and a dark rest shirt beneath an open leather jacket. He had a knife scar cutting diagonally across his face from left to right, cutting through his lips and just missing his left eye to stop at his temple.

He was just as Shade had described him, especially the scar she'd given him on the night he murdered her father and attempted to kill her brother.

"So, you're Michael Dae? Honestly, I was expecting a little more." He said.

Dae laughed. "Guess I'll have to try harder next time."

Behind him, Ashur appeared out of the darkness. Leo's initial thoughts on the man's build had been correct. In the light, he could now get a better idea of the man. He had jet black hair, cut relatively short, just like Dae's, and cobalt blue eyes. He was wearing a pair of worn jeans and a brown, long sleeve shirt which was tight enough to reveal his muscles in great detail. It made Leo feel that if Ashur flexed his muscles, even by the tiniest bit, the shirt wouldn't be able to hold up. It was obviously fresh since it had no dirt on it. So, Ashur had changed.

Was he trying to intimidate him, or had Leo done more damage than he was aware?

"So, Ashur mentioned you had plans for me." Leo said, shooting a piercing glare at him. Ashur smiled mockingly back at him. Dae smiled as well, his scar slightly contorting it to look more like a menacing grimace.

"Yes, you're probably wondering why you ended up here in Texas." Dae began. Leo snorted derisively.

"Sorry, you're a little late on that train. Karai sent me here." He replied. Dae glared at him, obviously not happy with being interrupted.

_Too bad, _Raph's voice said.

Leo silently agreed.

"Technically, yes; Karai did send you, but she had no idea where. You see, a few weeks prior to that day, we contacted Karai. She wanted to strike a crippling blow to your Sensei; we needed a new 'player' in our little 'game' with the Outcasts. We reached an agreement. So, she found a way to capture you and you brothers. She was going to send us your brother, Michelangelo, but you were a better, more tactical, move. Without their 'fearless leader', your brothers would be a little, shall we say, unstable. They would then have to decide who would now lead the team. And we all know none of them are prepared for that." Dae chuckled at this. "I guess another part of that would be how much you made her hate you when you betrayed her trust." He laughed again. Leo glared at him. They were really trying to make him hate them.

"I didn't betray her. We had a misunderstanding. I thought she wanted to get away from her father." He growled.

"From what I hear, you didn't know that he was her father until after the fact." Dae replied.

"Yes, but she complained about him. I figured she'd be happier with him gone. Back then, I simply wanted her to be happy. Getting her away from the Shredder could've meant we could convert her to our side. At the time, that's all I wanted and, I'll admit, it was more for myself than anything else." Leo said.

"Ah, so you did have a crush on her. Whatever changed?" Dae mocked.

"A lot." Leo growled, his guard now fully up. He couldn't let them know about him and Shade. If they found out, it could put Shade in danger.

"Well then, the last thing I can think of is why you ended up with the Outcasts if we wanted you down here." He said. Leo kept his mouth shut. He was wondering, but he didn't wish to say so. However, his eyes betrayed him. Dae gave a menacing chuckle; he was enjoying this.

"Well, that's relatively simple. As you're aware, only the members of the Outcasts can get in and out of your base. This is because the doors can only be opened via a DNA lock. Each and every member's DNA can access it to open the doors simply by a fingerprint, piece of hair, skin, or blood. Even by voice." Dae said, his hands clasped behind his back as he spoke. Leo watched him, confusion obvious on his face. Why was he talking about locks?

Then it dawned on him; DNA locks only opened by DNA of Outcast members.

He'd joined only a week ago and his DNA had been added into the system. If they had brought him down here, then they probably had his DNA. Dae smiled as he saw Leo comprehend it all.

"Exactly. You see, the only problem with that is that it degrades so quickly. We still have some of your blood in a freezer that should work. However, if it doesn't, we need a contingency." Dae said. Ashur came out of the darkness, pushing a trolley over to his leader. Leo hadn't even noticed him leave. Dae pulled the covering off the trolley.

On the bottom rack laid his katanas and his gun, but it was the top rack that caught his attention the most. On it, laid glittering knives and a blowtorch. Leo stiffened at the sight of them, having a pretty good idea what they had in mind.

"All we need is some fresh blood. However, we also need some info on the Outcasts, the kind that only a Chamber member can provide. Unfortunately, our mole isn't someone that high up. Well, in a sense…." Dae said, pulling a syringe out of his pocket. He came over and plunged it into the crook of Leo's left arm. Leo was sure he did his best to make it as painful as possible. When the syringe was full, he plucked it back out and pressed his finger hard over the puncture.

He smiled wickedly at Leo. "Wouldn't want you to bleed out before the fun begins."

Leo glared at him, feeling the hatred boil in his gut at the mocking tone. Dae removed his finger and wiped off the blood, turning to face Ashur.

"You know what to do. I'll go pay a visit to some old friends." He said, leaving with the syringe of Leo's blood. Ashur grinned, almost hungrily.

"I'm gonna enjoy this." He said, picking up a knife. "Now, how 'bout we begin with what you know about tonight."

"Well that's a little vague. Not the greatest at this, are you Ashur." Leo said, unable to keep back the jibe. Ashur chuckled, but Leo could tell he'd struck a nerve.

"Oh, I'm very good at this. You'll know soon enough just how good I am, no doubt about that." Ashur said, moving to Leo as he twirled the knife with skill. "Alright, let's try this; do you know what was in the crates we moved?"

"Nothing, we couldn't get close enough." Leo growled out, not seeing any problem with telling him that much. Ashur watched him intently. He smiled when he was Leo was being honest.

"Good. Now, how 'bout we talk about the Chamber, starting with what they knew about tonight and how." He said. Leo glared at him, but didn't say a word. Ashur grinned.

"Oh, this is definitely gonna be a fun night." He chuckled. He placed the point of the knife against the upper left side of Leo's plastron.

"Turtles are supposed to have hard shells, right? Well, what do you say we test that?" he said, slowly applying pressure to the blade. Leo could feel the blade slowly penetrate his shell. He tried not to show any apprehension at the prospect of the blade piercing his shell fully and entering his skin. He knew that his shell was weaker than a normal turtle's because of being mutated. It protected him against most things, sure, but a blade with a good amount of pressure behind it and a sharp point would eventually pierce him and it would hurt.

It seemed like an eternity passed before the knife broke through the last of his plastron and sunk into his skin. Leo was pretty sure that's exactly what Ashur had wanted. He gasped in pain as the blade sunk up to its hilt. That left about three inches of a blade in his shell and skin. Instantly, he knew that taking it out would hurt much worse. As if on cue, Ashur began to slowly slide the knife out, doing his best to make Leo's agony last. Leo, for his part, tried not to show how much it was hurting him. He bit back a cry of pain and stared straight ahead. He wasn't about to give Ashur the satisfaction of watching him suffer. And he sure as hell wasn't about to give anything away.


	15. Chapter 14

Alix and Nakita raced away from the warehouse, heading back to the base. Nakita was pissed that they'd left Leo behind to fend for himself, Alix could feel it. She'd always had a knack for detecting people's emotions. Alix also knew that they'd had no choice. They couldn't risk them all getting caught.

The two of them climbed up buildings and jumped across rooftops until it was impossible to do so. They climbed down from their final rooftop, an old and crumbling storage building, and headed inside. The entrance was big enough to fit a semi. Inside were hundreds of storage units, the doors as big as the entrance of the building itself. The aisles between the units were as wide as a two way street with plenty of room for a semi to turn into any one of the units. They headed straight for the back, stopping at the unit marked 228. Nakita pressed her large paw to the left side of the door. A blue light flashed, scanning her prints. The light changed to green and they heard the lock click as the door slid up to reveal a downward sloping drive. They walked on, the door automatically closing behind them after sensing they were clear. At the end were the large entrance doors into the actual base. This time, Alix pressed her hand to the scanner. When the light flashed green, the smaller entrance door to the side popped open and they walked into the base.

* * *

><p>"You guys did the right thing." Tristen told them. They were up in the Chamber Room once more with Mother Silvia, Tristen, Shade, Zayne, Jarak, and Xavier. Zayne's two apprentices were busy trying to hunt down some missing weaponry, no doubt the work of the mole in their midst.<p>

"Nakita, tell me what you smelled of the weapons." Zayne said.

"Metal, gunpowder, and brass." She answered. Zayne nodded in thanks and left to find out what it could be. Shade had remained quiet throughout the whole exchange. Alix knew exactly what her friend was feeling. Despite how well they hid it, most of the Outcasts were pretty sure Shade and Leo were a couple. It didn't take a genius to get that.

"Why would they take Leo?" Nakita asked.

"Maybe because he's a Chamber member?" Alix suggested.

Tristen shook his head. "Then why not get you two? You're just as much Chamber members as he. From what you say, they targeted him. There's gotta be another reason."

"What about him and Shade?" Xavier asked. Shade's head shot up.

"What do you mean?" she asked, flustered. Xavier scoffed.

"It doesn't take a genius to put two and two together, especially with how much time you two spend together." He answered. Shade blushed.

"I guess not."

"That may be it, but feels like there's more to it." Jarak said. Silence fell over the room as they tried to think of another reason why Dae would want Leo. Jarak was the first one to come up with something.

"He was alone." He said. Everyone shot him confused looks.

He hurried to explain. "They didn't touch him. The Traitors left him alone and let us take him in without getting hurt. Why?"

Shade stiffened at the implications of that statement.

"Are you saying Leo was the mole?" she growled, glaring at him. Jarak held his hands up in a placating gesture.

"No, no! I'm saying that maybe they're the reason Leo came here. They were counting on him joining us. Why?"

"So they could get his DNA." Xavier answered. Jarak nodded, picking up his tablet and going into the archives of DNA to take Leo's off. He set the tablet back on the table behind him.

"Now they can't use his DNA to get in." he said.

"Alright, but all this has raised more questions. Nakita and Alix could open the doors as well." Shade said.

"I think it comes back to the whole reason they brought Leo here. He's had a lot of questions about how he ended up here." Tristen said.

"I know." Shade replied.

"Someone go keep watch over the doors so that when they can't get in with Leo's DNA, they don't use their mole. We'll have to draw them away from the base somehow." Tristen said, getting back down to business. Nakita headed off to do as told. Alix watched her go before turning back to the others.

"What about Leo?" she asked.

"We'll just have to hope and pray that our own mole can get him out alive." Shade sighed.


	16. Chapter 15

Leo sat, still tied to the chair, with his head down. His breathing came in shaky gasps, barely audible. Cuts covered almost all of his arms and legs as well as a large grisly burn on his right outside forearm. Three more stabs had joined the first, scattered across his torso, never hitting anything vital. His body had become almost numb, so that the initial agony of each stab or cut had faded to a dull throbbing in the background. The final wound, a slash down his right shin, still dripped blood. Even in his dulled state of mind, Leo was pretty sure the leg was damaged for good. Ashur had left him a few minutes prior. He hadn't been able to hear or see why.

When he heard the doors open, he didn't have the strength to lift his head. He listened to the footsteps approach, figuring Ashur had finished with whatever it was he'd left for. He wondered briefly why Ashur would come back. He knew by now that Leo wasn't going to say anything.

The footsteps stopped in front of Leo, but he still didn't have the strength to lift his head. A hand reached out and gently lifted Leo's head up. He managed to look at the person before him, a little difficult with a cut above his slightly swollen right eye, from a ring Ashur'd had on when he punched him, that dripped blood down into his eye, and was surprised to see a stranger standing before him.

He looked to be in his early twenties with very short, dark brown hair and hazel eyes, a mixture of green and brown. His face had a kind look, not even slightly disfigured by the knife scar down the left side of his face and over his eye, and Leo could tell by the look in his eyes that this was someone who could be trusted and would have your back in any situation. Leo took an immediate liking to him.

"Sorry for letting this happen, but I couldn't risk blowing my cover. Jarak put a lot of work into it." He said, pulling out a knife and cutting him loose. He caught Leo as his limp body slumped forward.

"Easy there. Let's see if we can get you out of here." He said, standing up with Leo slumped heavily against him, barely able to stand. With one step, they both knew it would take too long to get out with Leo barely able to stand, let alone walk. He set Leo down again in the chair and went over to the trolley. He shoved off all the bloody knives and carefully set the blowtorch on the ground. He came back over to Leo and helped him back up.

"Wait, who are you?" Leo managed to rasp out.

"Name's William Madlocke. Just call me Will and we'll get along just fine." He said, leading Leo over to the trolley and helping him onto the top where he laid down on his back.

"If we're lucky, we'll find a gurney on our way out." Will said.

"My weapons." Leo rasped, eyes searching frantically for his gun and katanas.

"Right below you. Here." Will said, reaching below for Leo's gun before handing it to him. Leo managed to cock the gun, ready to shoot at any threat. Will started off, pushing the trolley, with Leo on it, before him.

"Heard you're a pretty good shot." Will said as they exited out into the hall.

"I've been told so." Leo answered.

"Let's hope I won't have to see it until we leave the building." Will said. They turned and corner and that hope was immediately scrapped.

A ways down the hall was a mutant ferret with dark red fur and cream colored patches. Leo raised his gun, but Will reached out a hand to lower it. He stuck two fingers in his mouth and gave a sharp whistle. The ferret turned, revealing them to be a girl. A look of relief entered her features as she quickly headed over to them. She instantly wrapped her arms around Will and hugged him. Will returned the gesture and the hug lasted more than was probably necessary. Leo instantly knew these two were very close. They released each other and turned to Leo.

"Leo, this is Saturn. She joined the Traitor's forces a month or so after he was exiled. I went undercover the day he was exiled. I managed to convince her that Dae was wrong. She's, in a way, my partner." Will said.

Saturn smiled at him. "Nice to meet you."

Leo managed a smile back at her.

"We need to get him back to the base so Lex and Alaska can treat him." Will told Saturn.

She nodded. "Follow me."

She headed off with Will following, pushing Leo before him. Around the bend, in the next hall, Saturn was opening a door. She flicked on a light and entered, coming out after a few seconds with a gurney. She turned off the light and closed the door behind her before pushing the gurney over to Will and Leo. They both helped Leo over onto the gurney. Will picked up his katanas and handed them over to him.

"Any exit left unguarded?" Will asked.

"There's the back entrance, but it'll set off the alarm." Saturn suggested.

"What if I shoot it out?" Leo proposed.

"They'll hear the gunshot." Saturn pointed out.

"Not if we use a silencer." Will replied.

"Well, I dunno 'bout you, but I don't have a silencer on me." Saturn said, a little sarcastically.

"What about a poor man's silencer?" Leo answered. Saturn looked at him a bit confused, but Will clearly got the message. He entered the room Saturn had brought the gurney out of. He came back out a few seconds later with a pillow and gave it to Leo. Saturn still looked confused.

"The pillow acts as a silencer. A poor man's silencer is anything that can be used to 'silence' a gunshot without being a legit silencer. Shade told me about them once." Leo explained.

"Alright, let's go." Will said. Saturn led off again, taking them to the back entrance. When they reached the hall with the target door at the end of it, Leo realized it was the kind people would use in a fire. He raised his gun as they approached, sighting on the alarm above the door. He covered the muzzle with the pillow and fired.

As predicted, the pillow muffled the shot. The bullet struck the alarm, causing sparks to leap from the hole. Saturn opened the door, cringing slightly in expectation of the fire alarm. When it didn't come, she relaxed and allowed Will and Leo through. Out in the alley was an old pickup truck. They laid Leo down in the back seat. Will took the wheel and Saturn took the passenger seat. Will turned on the truck and backed out of the alley before driving off towards the base.


	17. Chapter 16

Shade and Tristen led their fighters up through the secret entrance tunnel up to the surface. Barely minutes before, someone had tried to use Leo's blood to get it. That alone had sat alarm bells ringing in everyone's mind; no one used their blood to get in.

Now, their job was to draw the enemy away from the base and, if they were lucky, finish them off for good. Shade was in a very melancholy mood and was itching to beat in a few skulls and bury a bullet in Ashur's or Dae's. Tristen could sense this mood coming off his little sister in waves, but he was more than happy to let her release her anger on their enemy. They reached the surface entrance in an abandoned warehouse and headed out to confront the Traitor's forces.

* * *

><p>The truck was going as fast as possible while not getting pulled over. They weren't too far away from the base, but the sooner they got there, the better. Leo did his best to keep his eyes open, but his wounds were beginning to take their toll, draining him of energy. The bleeding had stopped with all of them, so they no longer had to worry about him bleeding out. Even so, Leo felt that if he gave into the exhaustion, he'd never wake up.<p>

"How far away are we?" he asked Will.

"I'd guess a mile or so. Never been a good judge of distance in situations like this." Will answered, laughing slightly. Leo couldn't hold back a smile at that.

* * *

><p>Tristen and Shade led their fighters to the abandoned storage building that housed the entrance to the base.<p>

"Ashur, Dae," Tristen roared out, cupping his hands around his mouth. "Come on out and stop sneaking around like the cowards you are!"

"Who said anything about hiding?" Dae's voice called from a different building. They all whirled around to face it. While Dae couldn't be seen, his forces were plenty visible as they poured out of the building.

"Well I don't see you anywhere. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's called hiding." Tristen challenged.

He was answered by a cruel laugh. "Oh, believe me, when you see me, it'll be seconds before I kill you like I should've done last year."

And with those words, Dae's followers charged the Outcasts.

"Get 'em!" Shade roared, leading the charge to retaliate.

* * *

><p>"Can't you go any faster?" Saturn asked.<p>

"Hey, I'm going as fast as I can, but this truck is old." Will replied. They had reached the general area of the base and the roads were virtually abandoned. Occasionally, a car would pass, but these were few and far between. Finally, Will turned off the road and into a lot full of old, abandoned buildings. He maneuvered the truck between buildings until they reached the buildings directly surrounding the base.

Will stopped the truck as Saturn gave a low whistle. Leo pulled himself up into a sitting position, cringing as his wounded body screamed in protest. The sight that greeted him shoved his pain into the farthest reaches of his mind.

Before the truck, hundreds of humans and mutants, marked out as Outcasts and Traitors, were locked in combat.

"Well that was quick." Will said. Saturn nodded. Apparently, they'd both been expecting this. Leo on the other hand, was caught completely off guard.

"Wait, you were expecting this to happen?" He asked.

"Yeah, Dae and Ashur have been planning this for weeks." Will replied.

"There's no way we're getting through that." Saturn said.

Will nodded in agreement. "Come on, we may as well join in.

They both hopped out of the truck. Leo moved towards the door and opened it, doing his best to get out without causing himself anymore pain. Will gently placed a hand on his chest, holding Leo back.

"Maybe you should stay back. You can't do much with that leg." He said.

"Watch me." Leo growled, limping past. It hurt like hell to move, but it was bearable. Leo headed off into the fray, drawing his katanas. Will and Saturn exchanged a look before Saturn shrugged and followed after Leo. Will sighed and shook his head before taking off after them. He may as well try to keep Leo from killing himself.

* * *

><p>Shade shoved one of her daggers between the ribs of a Traitor. She yanked her blade back out as he dropped to the ground, clutching desperately at the wound. Shade gave him about five more seconds of life. She moved on without so much as a glance over her shoulder. She wiped the blood off the blade by wiping it against her pant leg, almost subconsciously. Up ahead, she sighted a familiar head of dark brown hair. Her spirits rose. If Will was here, then he must've gotten Leo out.<p>

Right?

She shoved through the fighting towards him, hoping and praying that Leo was with him.

* * *

><p>Leo sliced one of his katanas through the arm of a human Traitor. As the man crumpled to the ground, holding his fresh stump of an arm, Leo vaguely recalled a time when he wouldn't've dreamed of causing this sort of pain on another living thing.<p>

_Better times, _Donnie's voice said.

_Softer times, _Leo's own mental voice answered.

Leo moved on, limping with his still wounded leg. He had to find Ashur and Dae and…..

_Do what exactly?_

This was the first time Splinter's voice had spoken in Leo's mind. He realized he had no answer. He didn't really know what he wanted to do. He was spared from thinking of it any longer by a very familiar voice, which by now made his heart go crazy every time he heard it, calling his name.

* * *

><p>"Leo!" Shade cried as she saw him.<p>

_He looks like crap, _she thought as she ran to him, throwing her arms around him. Leo dropped his katanas and wrapped his arms around her, holding tightly as if he'd never let go. Shade felt relief flood over her. Leo was safe and everything was going to be okay.

* * *

><p>Leo could feel Will and Saturn watching them. It took Leo a few seconds to remember they were in the middle of a battle. Reluctantly, he released Shade. She looked at him, a slightly quizzical look on her face.<p>

"We are in the middle of a battle." He said. Shade blushed, and by now Leo could easily tell.

"Right, sorry." She said, smiling.

"Where's Dae at?" Leo asked.

In there." Shade answered, pointing to a building not far away from where they stood.

"Whaddaya say we go have a little chat with 'im?" Leo suggested, heading off towards the building.

Shade grinned and moved to his side. "Let's go."

Saturn and Will followed, the four of them fighting off any Traitors who got in their way. When they finally entered the building, they were more than a little surprised at the scene before them. The building was relatively small, but apparently had just enough room for the one-on-one fight going on between Dae and Tristen. Each was armed with a sword, the sound of their blades crashing rebounding off the walls. However, the sight that shocked them most, and made Leo's heart race with adrenaline and a hint of fear, was the bomb attached to a gas tank at the back of the building, behind the two opposing leaders locked in combat.

"Well that's new." Will said.

* * *

><p><strong>Good God Almighty that is a whole lotta line breaks!<strong>


	18. Chapter 17

"We need to get everyone out of here." Leo said.

"I can get our people out, but I doubt the Traitors will listen." Shade replied.

"How much time do we have?" Leo asked. Will made his way over to the bomb, giving Dae and Tristen, who ignored him, a wide berth.

"Little less than four minutes." He called back. They all turned to the one-on-one fight as a loud cry of pain sounded out. Tristen had backed off from Dae, clutching at his thigh where Dae had stabbed him with the tip of his sword. Dae raised his own sword to finish him off. Leo drew his gun and fired at the same time as another shot rang out. They all heard the sickening crack as one bullet tore into Dae's skull and the other slammed into his chest, killing him instantly, but no one knew which was the killing shot.

As his body collapsed to the ground, Leo saw Shade, still holding her smoking gun in the firing position. Tristen limped over to them, clutching his bleeding thigh. He took one glance at the timer on the bomb and got straight down to business.

"Shade, Will and Saturn; go and try to get everyone away from the building. Leo, come help me with the bomb." He said. Without hesitation, they all did as told. Leo followed Tristen to the bomb, hearing the others' yells outside for the fight to end and everyone to get to safety.

"I know you and Shade have been together as a couple for a while now." Tristen said as he looked over the bomb.

"Yeah, I thought as much. Why are we bringing this up now?" Leo asked.

"Because there's a good chance I'm not gonna survive for long. So, I need to get a few things off my chest." Tristen replied. Leo decided not to waste time by denying it.

"First of all, you're a good guy and I know Shade'll always be safe around you. But if you hurt her at all, in any way, you can be damn sure I'll come back for you." Tristen began.

"Wait, are you saying…." Leo said, not entirely sure where this was headed, but with a faint idea of it.

"If you ever decide to marry my sister, you have my blessing. So don't screw it up." Tristen finished. Leo was a little shocked. After a few seconds, he composed himself and gave Tristen a steady gaze and saluted him.

"I swear, I'll keep her safe as best I can." He said. Tristen smiled, saluting back. They both lowered their hands.

"You know you're not gonna die tonight, right?" Leo asked.

Tristen sighed. "Maybe not today, but there's always that possibility. Anyways, that's what I need people to think. See, Dae told me that he's got a deployment of his followers out of the country. Dae's main goal at first was to take over the Outcasts and then use his power to take over Houston and reveal mutants to the world. Whether or not that's still true, he's begun hiring out his mutant followers to the highest bidder. Against their wills. I need to find them and, if possible, release them."

"So he got into human trafficking basically." Leo said. Tristen nodded.

"So, you want everyone to believe you got killed by the bomb. Why?" Leo asked.

"There're only three ways to get out of being General; exile, death, or retirement. I'm not about to be exiled and I'm too young to retire. So, I have to fake my death. Another reason is the mole in the Outcasts. We still have no idea who it is and if they catch wind of what I'm doing, they could warn the people I'm after." Tristen explained. Leo nodded understanding.

"How am I supposed to hide this from Shade?" he asked.

"Honestly?" Tristen sighed. "I have no idea. One of these days, I'm sure you'll be able to tell her. I'll keep in touch as best I can and keep you up to date on my progress. In return, I expect you to keep me up to date with the goings on with the Outcasts and when the mole is caught, which I have no doubt they will, then you can let me know and I can come back."

Leo nodded again, knowing there was nothing he could do to persuade Tristen otherwise. Leo looked to the bomb.

"Looks like we've got about a minute to get out of here." He said.

"Guess I'll see you later, then. Remember, Leo, keep after my little sister." And with that, Tristen turned and disappeared out the back door. Leo turned and hurriedly made his way towards the front entrance. He couldn't follow after Tristen as that would destroy his plan of faking his death. Leo made sure to walk past Dae's cold corpse, feeling his lip curl up in contempt.

He made it out of the building, panting slightly. His wounds were beginning to take their toll again as his adrenaline rush began to dissipate, draining his energy. He tried to move faster, but his movements felt sluggish and his skin felt like it was being pricked by a thousand needles with every step. He mentally counted down the seconds he had left. He barely noticed that only a few Traitors remained, shouting abuse at their fleeing companions and foes who'd taken the others' warning to heart. Some of them noticed him and, recognizing him as an Outcast and taking note of his obviously weakened state, began advancing towards him with weapons drawn. Leo drew his gun to shoot them off when the bomb finally blew.

A massive wave of heat, flame, and shrapnel knocked Leo forward, hitting the ground and sliding a ways with enough force to knock the wind from him. He felt something hot and sharp slam into his leg. Actually, multiple somethings. He felt them slicing into his leg, hitting with about as much force as gunfire. The explosion only lasted a few seconds, but they were full of pain. Leo felt his head beginning to swim with the gut-wrenching pain before he blacked out, all his wounds, from the explosion and Ashur, beginning to fully drain him of his last reserves of energy.


	19. Chapter 18

When Leo awoke, he had no idea where he was. He heard the quiet beeping of machines and realized that one of them coincided with his heartbeat. So, he was in the infirmary. That was confirmed by the hospital bed he realized he was in. He looked to his right to see Shade, nose buried in _20,000 Leagues Under the Sea_, sitting in a chair at his bedside. Feeling eyes on her, she looked at him and her face lit up with a smile. She closed her book and set it on her chair as she stood up and moved to sit on his bed next to him. He smiled at her as she picked up his hand and held it in both of hers.

"Hey." He said, his voice sounding a little gritty. He cleared his throat in an attempt to fix that. He probably hadn't spoken for a while if it sounded that bad.

"Hey." She replied.

"What exactly happened?"

"The warehouse blew up. When we found you, you were in pretty bad shape. You had some minor burns on your arms, legs and back of your head from the blast. There was one on your forearm that looked like it had been done by a blowtorch. It was pretty severe, enough so that Lex and Alaska had to do a skin graph. I take it Ashur did that?" she said. Leo nodded, but he could tell there was something she wasn't telling him.

"What else?"

Shade paused and he could see her biting her lip in that cute way that meant she was thinking something over. He felt his heart pick up a little faster at the sight and heard the machine pick up on it.

"Your leg….." she trailed off.

"What about it?" he asked, looking down at his legs. They felt fine, but the sight that met him sent his spirits plummeting. Both were perfectly fine down to his knees, but after his right knee the blankets lay flat on the bed. Shade lifted the blankets away from it and he drew in a shaky breath at the sight of his stump, wrapped in bandages. He closed his eyes as Shade laid the blanket back over it.

"It was completely shredded by shrapnel. There was no way we could save it. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It wasn't your doing." He said, his voice shaky as he tried to forget about his missing limb. "How long have I been out?"

"A little over a month. Lex didn't think you'd be able to stand all the pain, so she put you in a chemically induced coma. They gave you the drugs to wake you up a few hours ago." She answered him.

"So, what did I miss?"

"A lot. We're closer to finding the mole, but we still don't know who it is. A few weapons have gone missing from the Armory. I'd hoped that with Dae's death, they would've stopped. Guess not. Tristen's funeral was a few weeks ago and we had a gathering to decide the new Sergeant." She stopped, seeing Leo avoid her gaze at the mention of Tristen. "Something on your mind?"

Leo hesitated. There was no way he could hide this from Shade.

"Tristen's…..not really dead." He said quietly before going on to explain the situation as best he could to her. Shade was silent for a few moments. Then, "I'm gonna kill him when he comes back.

"Well, that may take a while. By the way, who's the new Sergeant now that you're General?"

"You are." She said, smiling at him. "The gathering was about voting for the new Sergeant and you were one of the candidates. The outcome was pretty much unanimous. We've been waiting for you to wake up so we could make it official. Tristen left his badge with you. It was hidden in your holster. He must've slipped it in while you two were talking. I kind of took it as his approval of you as Sergeant."

She pulled out her new General's badge from where it had rested inside her shirt. The gold badge hung around her neck on its chain, just as her old one had done. She then pulled out her old Sergeant's badge from her pocket and held it.

"I actually hoped I'd never have to get rid of this." She said.

"It's only for a short time. When Tristen comes back, I'll be more than happy to give up the post." He promised. She smiled at him and stood up.

"What do you say we go make that 'temporary' post official?"

"Let's do this." He said, smiling as he threw back his blankets. He paused, looking at his stump once more. Shade leaned down and kissed his cheek.

"If it's any consolation, I think it's kind of cool. Makes you seem more…..badass." she said. Leo laughed, feeling glad that he had her. He wasn't sure if he could've handled this otherwise. Shade tossed him his pants and he carefully pulled them on, still half expecting to see his missing leg pop out. Reality remained as his pant leg hung limply past his knee, making him sigh.

"This is gonna take some getting used to." He said.

"Not too much. Xavier's working on a prosthetic for you. Should be done in a few months. He's using some old Kraang tech so it'll move like a normal leg." Shade answered.

"Awesome." Leo said, folding up the rest of his pant leg and using a belt Shade handed him to tie it in place.

"Ready to go?" Shade asked, holding out a cane to him. He frowned at it, but took it anyways. He stood up, leaning on the cane as he was a little uncertain about moving with only one leg. Shade smiled at him and wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Leo closed his eyes, barely believing that he'd had to go a whole month without this. Shade broke it before it could accelerate further, since they did have somewhere to be, and smiled at him.

"I missed you." She said.

"I missed you too." He said, grinning.

"You were in a coma."

"Don't mean I didn't have feelings."

Shade laughed at him. She stopped and her eyes brightened.

"That reminds me, I've got a special someone for you to meet." She said.

"Who?" Leo asked. Shade took one of his hands and placed it on her stomach.

"Your kid." She answered. Leo's eyes widened in shock. He opened his mouth to speak, but the words wouldn't come out. He clamped it shut, still dumbstruck. Shade chuckled.

"I just found out about a week ago and I'm only like a month along." She said. Leo just stared at her stomach, still dumbstruck.

Finally, he managed to speak. "God, I love you."

Shade smiled and kissed him again.

"That means you'll have to go easy on me for a while. Think you can manage?" she teased.

"I'll try." He said, kissing her. She gently pushed him back.

"We've gotta get going, Leo." She said.

"Right, right. Let's go." He said as she laughed at his slightly flustered look.

"Don't worry, we'll pick this up later." She said as she led him out of the infirmary towards the main cavern. Out on the balcony, Leo could see everyone gathered below them. Shade led him towards the center of the balcony so they stood opposite the entrance doors and he realized they were only on the first balcony. It was so quiet that the sound of Leo's cane on the metal balcony sounded almost like distant gunfire.

Mother Silvia, Will, Zayne, Alix, Kirsa, Lex, Jarak and Mac all waited for them, gathered behind a fire. Mac was holding a metal rod into the flames, her hands gloved to protect them from the heat. Shade and Leo stood beside the fire, with Leo closest, as Mother Silvia turned to the gathered Outcasts.

"Today, we gather here to welcome in a new Sergeant. You have all decided that this mutant, Leonardo, has the qualifications, the grit, strength, wisdom, and compassion, that make a great leader." She turned to Leo. "Leonardo, do you promise to uphold the laws of the Outcasts, to protect the lives of your brothers and sisters in arms and to protect the honor of those past?"

"I do." He said, his voice ringing out as loud as hers. A cheer rose up from the gathered Outcasts and stopped as soon as Mother Silvia began to speak once more.

"Do you promise to give everything you have in order to protect your brothers and sisters in arms and to do whatever's right, no matter how hard it seems?" she asked. Leo hesitated momentarily, realizing the seriousness of this request. He straightened and squared his shoulders.

"I do." He said, louder and firmer than before. The crowd roared their approval again, this time not stopping when Mother Silvia spoke.

"Then I, Mother Silvia, make you Sergeant of the Outcasts. May they grow stronger beneath you." She said, somehow able to still be heard over the crowd. Leo felt a needle enter his left shoulder. As it quickly went numb, Leo saw Mac bring her bright hot brand out of the flames. He tried to look straight ahead as he felt the brand begin to burn its shape into his skin. The crowd roared louder as Shade took the Sergeant's badge out of her pocket and hung it around his neck. Its work done, the brand was removed and placed in a bucket of water where it sizzled and raised steam. Leo turned to display his fresh brand to the assembled Outcasts and, if it was even possible, their roar grew louder, the sound vibrating the metal landing beneath his feet. Lex stepped forward and wrapped his brand in linen so it would heal, but the design would remain. Leo looked at Will who gave him thumbs up. He smiled and returned it.

Shade watched Leo as she moved back to his side, the lighting flashing off the silver badge that now hung around his neck. She was glad that he'd accepted his new post. She knew how much he missed his family back in New York. She smiled to herself. She'd already figured out how to solve that problem. It would take a while, but it would work. Now that she knew Tristen was alive, it would fit in perfectly with her plan to get Leo home. She just hoped that, when the time came, he'd still want to.


	20. Chapter 19

"I'm almost done with your new leg." Xavier said, watching as Leo finished wrapping up his young friends cut arm.

"Don't tell me that's how you got these." He said, gesturing to the cuts he'd just bandaged. He really didn't want him going through that sort of thing for a simple leg. It wasn't worth it. But Xavier shook his head.

"Not exactly. These are from something else I'm working on." He reassured him.

Leo had been Sergeant for almost three months now. At first, he couldn't leave the infirmary so he'd lived there for a few weeks before he could move back into his own room. During those weeks when he was confined to the infirmary, Alaska, sensing Leo's boredom, had begun training him in basic healing. After he was able to move back into his room, Leo had come back to the infirmary every day to continue his medical training. It was during that training time today when Xavier had walked in and Leo had been told to patch him up.

"So, what's this other project?" Leo asked, pulling himself up to sit next to Xavier.

"Just an idea I had for getting internet down here. Actually, Shade asked me about it. She said it could be used to video chat over long distances." Xavier answered.

"Wonder what for…." Leo said, mostly to himself. Xavier shrugged and stood, heading back for his workroom and throwing Leo a 'later' over his shoulder. Leo stood, grabbing his cane and began picking up the things he'd used on Xavier. He carried them over to the cabinet, easily balancing on his sole leg so he could use both hands to open the cabinet and put things in their places. He shut the cabinet and turned around to see Shade walk in. Her stomach was still growing with the kid she'd only carried for roughly four months. She sat down on the foot of a bed and Leo made his way over to her. Something had been eating at him lately, and suddenly now seemed the perfect time to bring it up. Shade smiled as he approached. She could tell something was on his mind. He sat down next to her and she remained silent as he figured out what he wanted to say.

"So, I've been thinking lately about us. Just to be clear, what I'm about to ask isn't about this kid we're gonna have. It's because I love you and I want to make sure everyone knows it. I was gonna wait until Xavier finished making my new leg so this wouldn't be so awkward, but…" he shrugged, moving down to the ground in front of Shade. He got down on the knee of his surviving leg, his stump hovering straight out as best he could manage. He took both of her hands in his.

"I know I'm supposed to have a ring, but I honestly have no idea where, or how, to get one. So, ignoring that little bump; will you marry me?" Leo asked. Shade's face broke out in a smile.

"Of course. And I know just how to get a ring." She answered, causing Leo to grin.

"I was hoping you would." He said, rising with some of her help. He sat beside her and pulled her into a kiss. Now, he had one more thing to add to his list of things keeping him here. They broke the kiss and Shade leaned into his shoulder as he wrapped an arm around her and kissed her forehead.

He wouldn't leave this for anything.

* * *

><p><strong>Well, that ends this adventure. Don't worry guys, the third one will be up as soon as I can get it up. Just remember, I physically write these things out before I type them. Luckily for ya'll, I've been very busy writing and should have at least the first chapter up within a few days, so keep a look out for it. It's called A Missing Link. Until then, thank you all for watching and for your feedback. Much appreciated.<strong>

**Until next time,**

** Sherlockian**


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